Romans 3:9-20 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Romans 3:9-20. Let’s go!
Romans 3:9a (NIV)
9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all!…
On verse 9: Given Paul’s Jewish heritage and his international upbringing outside of Jerusalem, Paul has the unique ability to relate to and identify with both Jews as well as Gentiles. So after talking to the Jewish Christians in Rome and warning them not to take their rich spiritual heritage for granted (Romans 2:17-3:8), Paul in verse 9 speaks to the Gentiles and says, “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better?” Paul is using his unique shape to serve God (“shape” meaning his Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experiences).
Likewise, you are uniquely shaped to serve God. There is not a single aspect of your background, your experiences, your gift set or your personality that God accidentally allowed. Rather you are a custom-made creation built for the glory of God. God wants to use you just the way that He shaped you to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
Romans 3:9b-20 (NIV)
9 …We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
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 held accountable to God.
20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
On verses 9b-20: Now Paul goes into one of the foundational points of the gospel. After saying that those who persistently do good will have eternal life (Romans 2:7), here Paul makes it clear that while this may be true in theory, the practical reality is that none of us has ever “persistently done good” such that we can earn our way to eternal life. For while God may have given us the ability to do good, and while we may sometimes do some good, God’s standard is not about doing some good sometimes. His standard of goodness is about being 100% good all the time and in every way, a perfect standard. If that’s God’s standard for goodness, then that means no one is good. All of us have fallen short of God’s perfect standard. As Paul says in verse 9, “We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.”
Then to show that he was not making this up, Paul quotes various Scriptures from the Old Testament to show that for centuries the Scriptures had been communicating the same idea that none of us is good in God’s sight (v10-18).
In contrast, the popular wisdom of our day is that people are good – so good that we don’t need God, so good that some think through our own effort we can climb our way to heaven. But in Romans 3 Paul communicates a truth that is as politically incorrect and counter-cultural today as it was when he first wrote about it: God is not impressed with our so-called goodness. In fact, if you think you can impress God and reach heaven by trying to be good, then either your view of God is too small, or your view of yourself is too big.
So if you think you can earn your way to heaven through your own self-effort, think again. You can’t. We can’t impress God or earn our way to heaven by trying to obey God’s laws. So why did God give us His laws to obey? One of the biggest reasons God gave us His laws was to show us that His standard is something we can’t reach alone and that we need His help. Like verse 20 says, “no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”
Praise God that while we ourselves could not meet His standard for being good, Jesus met God’s standard perfectly. Then Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins so that sinners like us who were far away from God could be forgiven and brought near to Him. That’s what the gospel is all about: not that we are good, but that God is so good and sacrificed Himself for us.
Father, I know that, measured against Your perfect standard, I am not righteous at all. But thank You that You sent Your perfect righteous One, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for me, so that somehow a sinner like me could be brought back to You. Thank You also for shaping me uniquely to serve You. May I not look down on the ways You have made me uniquely, but embrace them and use them to serve for Your glory. In Jesus’ name AMEN!
