What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;Paul begins his closing argument as to whether or not all humanity has a problem with God by addressing a possible objection that those reading this letter may have, which is “well Paul, are you saying that you are better than us? Because that is what it seems like? You have spent your entire time accusing us of having a problem with God, but do you have a problem with God? You have said that we are without excuse when it comes to our behavior before God. But are you without excuse? Do you think that you have excuses for your behavior and that you will be protected for God’s right and just response to your behavior? Do you think you are better than us?”
Paul responds to this objection very simply and clearly- not at all. In other words, Paul is explaining that he does not view himself as being any better than the members of the church at Rome, or any other human being in this world. Paul then provides the proof for his response by pointing to his earlier arguments in this letter. Paul reminds the members of the church at Rome, and us here this morning, that he had already accused and proved that both Jews and Greeks were all under sin. As a former religious person who was a Jewish Pharisee he was guilty. However, Paul states that both Jews and Greeks were guilty. By this phrase, Paul is arguing that all of humanity, whether religious, agnostic, or irreligious, whether moral or immoral, every human being throughout history is guilty of having a problem with God.
And to back his claim, the Apostle states “as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;”. What is interesting is that the phrase “as it is written” conveys the sense of a pronouncement and announcement. Paul then begins to quote from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the book of Psalms. In Psalm 14:1, King David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit stated that there is no one who does good. However, Paul here seems to change what King David wrote by saying that there is none righteous, so is Paul misquoting Scripture here?
I do not believe that Paul is misquoting Scripture; I believe that Paul is making an editorial change in order to unpack what King David was communicating by the phrase there is none who does good. As we have seen throughout this series, the word righteous simply means to be right with God. You see, the words good and righteous are two complimentary words that explain the same state of reality. Paul here is not changing or contradicting Scripture; instead he is revealing the cohesion of the Bible and the timeless reality that no one is or does anything that results in them being good, or right with God.
And it is in Paul’s response to this potential objection and accusation that we see revealed for us the timeless reality that the Bible proves that all humanity has a huge problem with God. In Romans 3:9-20, we see the Apostle Paul, in this closing argument, provide four pieces of evidence from the Bible that prove that all humanity through history is guilty of having a huge problem with God. We see first piece of evidence revealed for us in Romans 3:10-12. Let’s look at those verses together as a cohesive unit:
as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."Here we see the Apostle Paul quote extensive sections of Psalm 14:1-3 to reveal the first piece of evidence from the Bible that proves that all humanity has a huge problem with God. And that first piece of evidence is that the Bible proves that the problem is universal. In both Psalm 14:1-3 and Psalm 53:1-3, we see the universal problem that all of humanity throughout history has with God. There is none who understands; in other words there is not a single person what has been able to have an intelligent grasp on the nature and character of God that impacts their head, heart and hands in a way that makes them right with God.
Now a natural objection here could be, well how can God hold our inability to intelligently grasp Him against us? And if the Psalm stopped there, you may have a good point. But the Psalm does not stop there. Instead, the Psalm states that there is none who seeks for God. In other words, there is no one who exerts the effort to even attempt to truly understand or learn about the nature and character of God. Instead, all of turned aside. This phrase literally means to keep away from or steer clear from. So instead of exerting the effort to seek after God, all of humanity has spent their energy in an attempt to avoid God. And because of humanities efforts to steer clear and avoid God, together they have become useless. By useless, the Psalmist means that all humanity has become morally depraved and worthless.
Therefore, there is none who does good, there is not even one. No one lives their life in a way that meets with God’s approval and makes them right with God. No one. Just look at the words used in this Psalm: there is none; there is none; all; together; there is none, not even one. Paul’s point is that the Bible clearly proves that all humanity has a problem with God. The problem is universal.
Now you find yourself pushing back and objecting to everything you just read. “I mean Dave, how can these two Psalms prove that all humanity has a problem with God? And besides it isn’t as though people do not try to understand God, just go look in a bookstore; look at all the religious systems and literature. How can you say that all humanity steers clear of God and is morally worthless in God’s sight?” If you are asking those questions, I believe that they are fair questions to be asking. And as Paul continues in his closing arguments, we see him answer those questions for us. We will look at those answers tomorrow.
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