Download Text: Romans 3:9-20 Title: Universal Guilt Truth: If you are not a

Text: Romans 3:9-20
Title: Universal Guilt
Truth: If you are not a Christian, you are guilty in God’s sight, and there is
nothing you can do about it.
Date/Location: Sunday April 28, 2013 at FBC
Introduction
It is somewhat difficult to approach a well-known text of Scripture because
we may be lulled into a sense that we already know what the passage
says. But that doesn’t mean we cannot glean some new nuggets of truth
or application to round out our understanding of the text, if not gain a
whole new appreciation for what has been written in it.
I. Restatement of the Charge Against Humanity, 3:9
The Bible asks “what then?” to have us pause and shift our thoughts to a
new issue. And that issue is asked as another question: “Are we better?”
A. Who is “we”? At first you might think that it is “we Jews.” But the
previous verse “we” does not seem to be Jews, because it is a “we” who
have been slandered about their doctrine. I believe “we” refers to Paul
and by extension to all Christians.
B. The question is “Are we better?” Are we Christians at any advantage or
better off, compared to others? The others could be the slanderous
opponents of Paul (3:8) or anyone else for that matter.
C. The answer is “not at all.” There is no place for a superiority complex.
1. Toward those who hold false doctrine or oppose our Christianity.
2. Toward the pagan or openly wicked person.
3. Toward family members, friends, classmates, etc.
4. Toward fellow church members or leaders, especially when they sin.
D. Why? Paul writes, “For” – explanation coming – “we have previously
charged…” Romans 2:12 has already painted everyone into the same
corner. Because the original state of all people, all together, is to be
under sin, there is no way we Christians can claim to be superior.
To be “under” sin means something “is in a controlling position, under,
under the control of, under obligation in ref. to power, rule,
sovereignty, command” (BDAG, s.v. ὑπό). See John 8:34 about slavery
to sin. Sin is a hard master.
All Scripture is from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.
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This fact should give each one of us a big dose of humility when we
evaluate other people. We have nothing that was not given to us from
God; and not the least of the blessings we have is salvation, because
we don’t deserve it—just like “they” don’t deserve it.
II. Six Proofs of the Charge from Psalms and Isaiah, 3:10-18
A. Scripture proof of this fact — the universal sinfulness of humanity — is
taken from a number of Scriptures in the Hebrew canon.
Romans 3:10-12
Romans 3:13a
Romans 3:13b
Romans 3:14
Romans 3:15-17
Romans 3:18
Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3, Eccl. 7:20
Psalm 5:9
Psalm 140:3
Psalm 10:7
Isaiah 59:7-8
Psalm 36:1
B. Some key words pop out when you do a study like this. For example:
1. In the Psalm 14 and 53 passages, the word “fool” pops out. This is
someone who does not fear God, who is extremely unwise.
2. The idea of no understanding also comes out. If people only
understood. They think they do, but they really do not. If we all
understood the real consequences of our sin, we would be mortified.
3. Sinners do not seek after God. Their interests lie not in God but
elsewhere, in almost anything else. Because of this, we dismiss the
church growth concept of “seeker sensitivity.” It would be better to
say that we strive to be visitor friendly in our demeanor and
receptivity of guests. But we certainly do not design most of our
church services around the unbeliever. Rather, our services are
designed to be God centered and believer oriented.
4. Grave and poison are two more words that stick out.
5. Tongue and mouth are two more. These remind us of James 3.
6. Swiftness to evil indicates a real desire to do evil, not just “happen
upon it.” Think of the crime that goes on in our communities.
7. A lack of peace. “There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked”
(Isaiah 48:22, 57:21). “Peace for our time” was not true regarding
global conflict in 1938 when Neville Chamberlain spoke the phrase,
nor is it today. But much less is it true in the matter of global sin and
humanity’s relationship to God. Romans 8:7 and 5:10 are clear that
the native state of all people is enmity against God.
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8. The opposite of being foolish is to fear God. But the there is no real
fear of God in the unbeliever’s life. Oh, they may say they fear God,
but if they really did, they would listen to His word, wouldn’t they?
They wouldn’t offer a blessing in the name of God on those who are
swift to shed blood, would they?
C. These texts can be boiled down to the following three main points:
1. Verses 10-12: Sin is universal. All have it; none do not have it; all have
done bad; none have done good. The focus is on the number of
righteous people, which is a big zero!
2. Verses 13-14: Sin is in every person’s mouth. Notice the repetition of
words such as throat, tongues, lips, mouth. Every aspect of the
person’s mouth, from way back where the guttural sounds come from
to the very front where the lips are is full of sin. Paul emphasizes the
poisonous character of the wicked. Words can start a war, can make
one’s heart skip a beat, and break up a marriage. Speech is the
thermometer that shows the spiritual temperature of the heart.
3. Verses 15-18: Sin is in every person’s life. Here the repeated words
are ones like feet and ways.
D. It is important to Paul and to God that we are clear about the fact that all
are sinners. Otherwise, there is nothing to be saved from, nothing to
preach, and nothing to embrace about Christianity.
Paul marshals a number of texts of Scripture in order to prove his point.
(To marshal means to gather from non-contiguous sources and
organize into a form that is suitable for the recipient.) The information
Paul gathers is practically as old as the earth is old.
No serious thinker can say that people are good. History proves this fact.
Our church’s doctrine agrees: “Every child of Adam is born into the
world with a nature which not only possesses no spark of divine life,
but is essentially and unchangeably bad apart from divine grace.”
III. Closing Arguments, 3:19-20
A. We know that the law speaks to the Jewish people, because it was given
and directed to them. It was not given to the Gentiles (for instance, see
Deut. 4:8—no other nation had this law).
B. We also should know that the Jews were under the law, so their mouths
should be silenced. They could claim no special favor with respect to sin.
They would have to clap their hand over their mouth if they were
tempted to talk back against God and His righteous judgment.
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C. In addition, the law carries out its revelatory function to show the world
that it is guilty as well.
D. The idea of guilt is not a feeling. Life is not defined by feelings. Life
involves feelings, for sure, but those feelings are not the final say on what
is real and what is not because feelings can be wrong. You may feel guilty
all the time, or none of the time. But the fact of the matter is that
everyone is guilty before God regardless of their feelings about it.
As such, all mankind is utterly unable to merit God’s favor or contribute
to his salvation.
E. No flesh – Jew or Gentile – will be justified before God by doing the law.
To be justified means to be made right before God.
The law cannot save; you cannot keep the law; and even if you could
keep it, keeping the law cannot save. No one is declared righteous by
observing the law. Here is a clear, boldface, underlined, italicized
statement in the Bible that you cannot be saved by good works.
Don’t even bother trying to argue the point. Those who do are
fighting a losing battle in the long run.
Rather, the sensitive soul will recognize his or her sin through the law,
and further will recognize that being enslaved to sin, and being guilty,
there is nothing they can do about it. There is no work that can
extract them from this condemnation. At this point, a person is ready
to hear about and receive the salvation of God through Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
1. All people start out under the dominion of sin and need to be delivered
from it lest they personally suffer the consequences for it.
2. You are a sinner and this should keep you humble.
3. You are a sinner and you can do the worst of sins.
4. You are a sinner and have nothing to “talk back” to God about it.
5. You are a sinner and you cannot do anything to get out of it or to make
God happy. Our best try to keep the rules and regulations that God has
laid down is insufficient. We need Jesus Christ.
6. If you are a Christian, you readily acknowledge your guilt, but thank God
that justification has been made available. The good news is that if you
receive Christ and His forgiveness, then you are saved from that guilt!
MAP
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