Everyone Needs Saving

Romans 3:9-20

Welcome! I want to start today with a transcript from a video of a conversation between an evangelist and a guy on the street. I’m using a transcript because the audio quality is uneven, but the link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDOttK1Gg08 in case you want to watch it yourself.

“Do you think you’re a good person?”

“Yes. I know I’m a good person, but I’m just a good person going through bad times right now, but…”

“Now, here we go. Now here’s a thought that God put on my heart for you, OK?”

“OK.”

“Now, I’m going to ask you some questions. Have you ever lied before?”

“Yes I did.”

“Me too. I’m included. I’m counting myself in this. Have you ever stolen anything before?”

“Yes I did.”

“Me too. I’m in it. I’m in it with you. You ever feel the heat before? It’s tough. But I hear you. You ever use the Lord’s name in vain?”

“Yes.”

“Me too. That’s called blasphemy, right? So I’ve done that too. Let me ask you another question. You ever looked at a woman lustfully?”

“Yeah. I did.”

“Me too. We have [similar] blood flowing through our veins… Let me ask you another question. You ever commit a murder?”

“No.”

“You’re going to be shocked. I have.”

“You did? I thought of it, but I haven’t tried to do it, you know. [You did?]”

“Yes, you see, Jesus said, ‘If you get angry in your heart and your mind at somebody else, that’s the same sin as murder.’”

“Oh…”

“Let me ask you the question again, because I’ve murdered like that.”

“OK.”

“I’ve been angry. You ever been angry at somebody?”

“Really angry…”

“Based on what Jesus says, have you ever murdered before?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. All right, so, let me ask you another question. Look, I said I’ve done all the same things, right, we’re equal. So I’m not judging you, right? Understand, I’m not judging you. But based on what your answers were, right? You told me you were a lying thief that blasphemed God, you’re an adulterer and murderer. Right?”

“Yes sir.”

“OK. So if we were standing in a court of law, right? And the law in the court said, basically, that these are the laws that we just went through, OK? And the judge was going to judge us on those, would you be innocent or guilty?”

“Uh, guilty.”

“Guilty. And what if the punishment for that was heaven or hell? Where would you go?”

“Well, I can probably [say] heaven, cause you know…”

“But the judge just said guilty.”

“Guilty, yeah, but…”

“You’ve been in court, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve been to court.”

“OK. And when the judge says ‘guilty,’ what happens? There’s punishment.”

“Yeah.”

“Right? That’s the only way. You either have to go to prison or pay a fine.”

“Yeah.”

“So if you’re standing in front of the judge and he says ‘Look, you’ve lied, and you’ve stolen, and these are the rules. And you’ve committed murder, because you were angry, and you’ve looked at woman lustfully, which is adultery, and you used My name in vain – that’s blasphemy.’ And you said [you’d] be guilty, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So what kind of punishment, if the punishment is heaven or hell, what’s going to happen? The judge is going to do what?”

“Hell.”

“Hell. Yeah, me too, right? Right. So, the problem with that is that we need someone to pay our fine now, don’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“Right. We need someone to pay our fine. We need a good lawyer, we need a good advocate, we need someone that can pay our fine, right?”

“[Sigh] I’ve got a problem like that right now, man.”

“[Oh? Then you understand.] And we can’t bribe the judge, cause then we get more jail time, don’t we? So we can’t bribe him. Someone’s got to [pay] it. So you know who did that?”

“God?”

“Jesus. You know what Jesus did?”

“Hell?”

“He died on the cross, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And when He died on the cross, what did He do?”

“Well, when He died on the cross, He died for our sins.”

“He paid that fine, didn’t He?”

“Yeah.”

“So let me ask you another question, before we go any further. Based on everything we’ve said, when we started off, you said you were a good person. Well, I’m a wretched sinner.”

“But I’m only human, you know?”

“Yeah, but I’m a wretched sinner, right? Because I’m guilty of lying, I’m guilty of stealing, I’m guilty of murder, I’m guilty of blasphemy, I’m guilty of adultery, I’m guilty of all those things – and more! Honor my mother and father? I broke that one too. I’m guilty. It makes me wretched, doesn’t it? I’m not a good person in the flesh. Let me ask you [again]. Based on that, do you still think you’re a good person?”

[No answer.]

“I’m not.”

“Um, I say I’m a good person that needs to work on myself to become a better person.”

To the great credit of the evangelist, he didn’t completely lose it at this point. I might have. I might have said, “What? Are you saying you are a much better person than me?” But the evangelist continued on explaining the gospel through explaining our complete inability to “work on ourselves to become better people.”

Today’s passage in Romans will be the third straight week that we deal with this issue that we are all wretched sinners. Paul, the writer of Romans, spends a lot of time on this issue because, just like that man in the conversation, we just don’t want to admit it!

The natural default position of a person is to believe that they are a good person. Not perfect, certainly, but “in the pack.” Remember what the man said, “I’m only human, you know?” We define goodness on a curve, and we think we are getting a passing grade. But as you know, the problem is that when it comes to whether God sees us as good, the basis is made on His grading scale, not ours.

I like the analogy of a courtroom because in a courtroom you are only judged on the matter of lawbreaking, not on the rest of your life. If you “just” kill one person, it doesn’t matter that you paid all of your income taxes or that you gave 10% of your income to charity. It doesn’t matter that you never got a speeding ticket.

Adam only sinned the one sin, and he was expelled forever from the Garden and given a “death sentence” of mortality. Moses only lost his temper once, and he was prohibited from entering the Promised Land.

Romans 1 explains that Creation itself reveals the nature and character of God, and because of this, all men are without excuse for their sin. Because people know the truth but suppress it, God has handed them over to their foolishness, their lusts, and their depravity. The first part of Romans 2 makes it clear that Paul’s readers are not exempt from the pronouncements of Romans 1. The Gentiles are under condemnation even though they were not given the Law of Moses because the law is written on their hearts. The Jews are likewise under condemnation because they have the Law. As Jonathan explained last week, Jews may try to justify themselves on the basis of their being circumcised, but circumcision is useless in this respect. Paul explains that true circumcision is inward, of the heart, and it is done by the Spirit, not the written Law. In the same way, also from last week’s passage, simply having the Law is also useless as a way to justify oneself before God.

I grew up Jewish, and I can affirm that I was taught and, when young, believed that we were the “chosen” people, and that, because of this, we had special standing before God. The refutations Paul gives in Romans 2 speaks directly to the fallacy of what I once believed. Yes, the Jews were chosen, but because of this a case can be made that they were even more responsible for their actions, not less, even held to a higher standard, not lower.

In the first part of Romans 3, Paul answers the natural next question for his audience – was there any advantage at all to being chosen? He answers yes, absolutely. They were given the very words of God! The point is that they were given an incredible privilege! To be an active part of God’s story through history is a great honor! To be the ones who received the Old Testament, who were entrusted to copy it faithfully, to pass it on from generation to generation, to be the ones who were given the prophecies about the coming Messiah and from whom the Messiah would come, all of these things were incredible honors! I think about the disciples who wanted to be at Jesus’ left and right hand. We tend to condemn them for their brazenness and self-centeredness, and to some degree this criticism is valid, but at the same time, at least they understood the incredible honor of being close to God. The Jewish people were given the great privilege of being at God’s right hand through history!

Paul anticipated the next question of the Jews: Since the Jews had failed to be faithful, does that somehow cancel out God’s faithfulness? Paul says, “absolutely not!” Even if every person was unfaithful, God would still be faithful, and it even highlights His faithfulness. This leads to their next potential question: If our unfaithfulness highlights His faithfulness, then is God unjust for condemning us? Again, Paul says, “absolutely not!”  God will judge the world. Paul then condemns without comment the ridiculous idea of saying “let us do evil so that good will result.” This leads up to today’s passage.

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. – Romans 3:9

“We” here refers to Jews. Do Jews have any advantage with God? No. Jews have been given a great honor, but they stand just like the Gentiles condemned by sin and unable to, by their own efforts, do anything about it. The statement “I’m a good person who needs to work on myself to become a better person” could not be more wrong.

What does it mean to be “under the power” of sin? The following verses address this.

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” – Romans 3:10-18

Here Paul uses 6 quotes from the Old Testament, five from the Psalms and one from Isaiah. What do they teach us about being “under the power” of sin?

Clearly their relationship with God is affected – it is basically nonexistent. The people do not understand God, and they do not seek Him. They have turned away from Him. This is active rebellion, and we see this expressed in many ways. The world goes to great lengths to avoid talking about God. They even try to prevent others from doing so.

Their relationship with each other is also deeply affected – throats being open graves, tongues practicing deceit, mouths full of cursing and bitterness. Lying, accusing, verbal conflict – this is a part of the day-to-day life of humanity. But not just words are affected; actions are as well. Feet swift to shed blood, ruin and misery, no way of peace – this too is part of the human condition apart from God. Does this mean that every person who has not put their faith in Christ lives this way all the time? Certainly not, but it is the “default” mode of humanity, especially when there is a breakdown of societal restraints. And even in a developed world society, the effects of sin are rampant – abuse, drug use, divorce, and broken family relationships are ubiquitous.

But most people still insist they are good people. Most people refuse to accept the possibility that they are not.

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. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. – Romans 3:19-20

Paul finishes this section by returning to the Law. The Law is like a school test that absolutely everybody fails. And just like how failing a test reveals that the test taker does not know the material, so does the failing to keep the law reveal our sin, our weakness, our not being “good people” at all.

“That every mouth may be silenced” is the ultimate condemnation. It is like a trial in which you have spent months with your lawyers preparing a defense. Yes, you are guilty, you know you are guilty, but your goal is to just plant enough doubt because the burden of proof rests with the prosecution. But at the actual trial, the things that the prosecution says, the evidence it brings, is just overwhelming. All your plans and preparations seem just silly now. In light of what the prosecution has just done, it feels like saying anything at all now would just do more harm than good. Certainly, it would be absolutely ridiculous at this point to say, “Your honor, I believe that I am a good person that needs to work on myself to become a better person.” And so you and your defense team nod to each other, and the lead lawyer for the defense says, “The defense rests, your honor.” Without hope, you simply wait for the inevitable verdict.

I don’t want to finish on this bleak note, so I want to return to Romans 3:10-18 and flip it around, so to speak. You see, all this horrible news is about the state of man apart from Christ. But for a man in Christ, everything is reversed. In Christ we are a new creation. We move from being apart from Christ to in Christ by confessing our sins and then putting our faith in Christ to save us. He came to Earth for this very reason. He called His disciples, yes. He healed the sick and cast out demons and did other miracles, yes. He taught amazing truths about God, yes. But ultimately, He came to Earth to rescue humanity. He allowed Himself to be tortured and hung on a cross unto death. He was buried. And on the third day He rose from the dead! In doing this, as God’s Son, and as the one and only man who had never sinned, the one and only man for whom Romans 3:10-18 did not apply, He gave His life as punishment for our sins. Returning to the courtroom analogy, He paid our fine. He took our penalty by paying for it Himself, with His life. He was our Advocate before the judge. In rising from the dead, we know that the exchange of penalty was accepted. And by faith we walk in new life, a reborn life, one in which it is possible to see Romans 3:10-18 reversed. In this new life we will still struggle with sin, but it does not have to be our master. In this new life, it is not really us who live, but it is Christ who lives in us. In this new life, God does not look at our old righteousness, our old lack of it, that is, and say, “No, you are not a good person; quite the opposite.” Instead, He looks out our new righteousness that is Christ in us and says, “Yes, you have the righteousness of My Son.” This is where the book of Romans will take us.

Here is what a reversed version of Romans 3:10-18 looks like:

In Christ you are righteous, even you; in Christ, you understand; in Christ, you seek God. In Christ you have turned back to God; in Christ, you have together become unspeakably precious; in Christ, you can finally do good, yes, all of you. In Christ, your throats are wellsprings of life; in Christ, your tongues practice truth in love. In Christ, healing salves for others are on your lips. In Christ, your mouths are full of blessing and encouragement. In Christ, your feet are swift to spread the good news of the Kingdom of God to those who remain lost; in Christ, restoration and joy mark your ways, and in Christ, the way of peace you do know. In Christ, there is fear, awe, reverence, and worship of God before your eyes. 

This is what Christ has done for us. This is what God the Father has done for us in giving us His Son. The bad, bleak news is necessary for us to own up to, or we cannot become transformed by the good, amazing news of the Gospel. We, in our flesh, were not good, far from it! We were condemned by God, and rightfully so. And likewise, in our flesh, we were utterly unable to do anything about it. But Christ has come, died on the cross, and risen from the dead. He has taken our place, paid our price, replaced our forfeited life with His, and in Him we are redeemed. Let us choose to live by faith, in Him, every moment of every day.