Heritage Reformed Baptist Mission
ROMANS
Sermon 9
No, Not One
Romans 3:9-20
"What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.."
In these days when wickedness is on the increase, the very mention of morality is sweetness to the ears of all who desire to see some good in this world. We would like to be able to walk the streets of our cities, drive the highways of our country, attend our schools, eat in restaurants, live in our homes without fear of being robbed, assaulted, raped, and murdered. We would like to see the homosexuals changed and the abortionists put out of business. We would like for there to be a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. We would be pleased if there were jobs for all who needed them and none were homeless. We would be proud to know that there was no such thing as poverty.
Government and civic groups and educators and religious people are all trying, in some way, to get many of these things done. But, if everyone of them were done by the might and power of human agency, it would still be wickedness in the sight of God. For the morality of man comes from a wicked, deceitful heart. The text for this study most vividly and specifically describes that heart.
Paul had been slanderously accused of saying that people should sin in order for the grace of God to be applied and God glorified. There were some who did say that, and it is likely they slandered Paul by using him as a reference for their ungodly teaching. By their false teaching, they proved they had no part with God in Christ, and so were justly condemned.
But, having said their condemnation is just, Paul quickly makes it clear he deserved no better than they. Why? Because everyone, the most religious Jew (among whom Paul was prominent) and the most pagan Gentile, he had already proved were under sin. The pagan moralist has a heart as wicked, and a life as debased in the sight of God as anyone who shows that wickedness in vile, outward acts of sin. The religious moralist is of the same character. Though the Scripture does not reveal why that is so until chapter 5, we may say at this point in our study it is because every human being is born that way, with a nature that is totally sinful. That nature is inherited from their parents who inherited it from their parents who inherited it from their parents, and on and on all the way back to the first man, Adam. Created in the image of God, Adam's disobedience to God destroyed his natural godliness and made him a natural sinner. As a result, his descendants were born in his image, the image of sin.
The nature of that sin is described in verses 10-18 of our text. Let's take a closer look.
First, none is righteous. Right off the bat, we may be prone to argue with that statement. Don't boy scouts help old ladies across the street? Don't people help one another when disasters strike? Is there no human kindness at all? Obviously, the answers to those questions is, Yes. Those things do happen. But, righteousness with God means absolute perfection in keeping with His moral law. In that regard, the Word of God says in Isaiah 64:6, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. All of the good deeds, all of the milk of human kindness, everything which otherwise might be good in man is polluted by one single sin, one solitary act of disobedience to God. And Isaiah speaks of iniquities, not just one sin, but sins too many to count.
The unrighteousness of man is shown first in his mind. He just does not, yes, he cannot understand God and His ways. As a result, he is a fool, saying no to God, even saying God doesn't exist. There may be some real atheists in the world. I'm not convinced of it. But, there may be. However, this I know. There are millions of what I call practical atheists, people who say they believe there is a God but live as if there isn't. Tragically, some of those kind are even in our local churches. But, I urge you who may know some of them not to let their mindlessness keep you from loving, trusting, and serving the Lord.
With a mind that doesn't understand God, natural, unrighteous mankind just simply rejects Him. No one seeks Him. If we can just get a small glimpse of that, we will begin to see just how much God loves the world of people. For He came in the Person of His eternal Son, Jesus Christ, to seek and save the lost. Out of the ivory palaces into this world of woe, Jesus came to do for His elect what they would not and could not do for themselves. That, dear friends, is love that is beyond knowing. But, thank God, it is not beyond experiencing. And as we continue to examine the condition of the human heart, the greatness of that love becomes more and more amazing.
Rejection of God includes rejection of God's way. When human beings put God out of their minds, they just naturally began and continue to go their own ways. The Prophet Isaiah says it like this in chapter 53, verse 6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way... That way may be one of his own devising. Or, it may be one he chooses that someone else has devised. Either way, because he will not follow God, he goes in another direction. A part of the tragedy of this forsaking of God is that many really believe they are doing what is right. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the ways thereof are the ways of death.
But, there is only one right way. That is God's way. And God's way requires a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As Isaiah 53:6 concludes, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. It is that very point to which our text is heading. For as we shall see in the next sermon, the Spirit of God through Paul shows that the solution to the problem of sin is found only but wonderfully in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God created man to have fellowship with Him and to bring glory to His Holy Name. But, sin made that purpose impossible and man became unprofitable. We might say, good for nothing! Why? Because not one thing human beings do profits God, even as Christians. It is only what God does in us and through us that brings glory to Him. And one of the wonders of God's grace is that what He does through us not only glorifies Him, but also profits us.
Jesus said, There is none good, but one. That is God (Matthew 19:17). Since that is true, we can, if we will, fully understand how it is that no one does good. Those seemingly good deeds that we mentioned at the beginning of this study, along with a multitude of other things looked upon as good by people, are not good at all if they are done with human wisdom and strength. Those things may certainly be good, but only if and when they are done by one whose heart and life have become the dwelling place of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Therefore, we are not surprised to see in our list of the description of man's heart venomous words. All of us have used them. We are familiar with slander, gossip, and backbiting against others. We are well acquainted with blasphemy, bitterness, and blaming against God. These are not offset by the sweet and high sounding words that are used for selfish, deceitful purposes. Only a heart cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and controlled by the Holy Spirit of God can speak words that are genuinely full of unselfish love.
Destructive ways are the bosom companions of an unrighteous heart. They take many forms. But, basically, there are only two categories. Things that bring harm to others and things that bring harm to one's self. War, murder, rape, robbery, suicide, drugs, alcohol, and the like are all the direct result of sin in the heart of man. The ways man has chosen to go away from God are full of misery. Man's inhumanity to man is indescribable. Sin is the only name that adequately defines it.
There is a great deal of fear in the world of humanity. But, there is no fear of God. Not only do men reject Him and not worship Him, they do not even consider and fear Him as God. Even when times of trouble come upon them, they shake their fists in His face, as it were, blaming, cursing, blaspheming His holy name. Unrighteous hearts are a world of iniquity.
All these things fill the hearts of mankind. Just one of them will keep a person from ever enjoying the presence of God. God's law, whether written on tables of stone or in the God-created conscience, shows these things to be sin. Therefore, no one can offer any excuse for their wickedness, nor can they blame God or others for the judgment that naturally follows it. They, themselves, are guilty.
Now, while the law exposes sin, it does not provide for sin's forgiveness. So, no one can ever be justified in the sight of God by trying to reform themselves and do the things the law requires. God requires sinless perfection. Human nature is totally sinful. Since there is no provision in the law for cleansing and forgiving sin, doing what the law says does absolutely nothing to change the heart.
But, God has done something to change the heart. He has made the way for His elect to receive forgiveness for their sins and to be declared righteous in His sight. The way is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. He came into the world, lived a perfectly sinless life, took the sins of his elect on Himself, and died on a cross. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day. Forty days later, He ascended into heaven where He sits at the Father's right hand to make intercession for those who come to God by Him. In God's time, Jesus is coming again to receive His own and set up His kingdom. All who will confess that He is Lord and will believe that God raised Him from the dead will be saved. It is the free gift of God, by grace through faith.
If you have never received that gift, and you realize and will confess you are a sinner, I beg you to come humbly to the Lord Jesus Christ, call upon Him to save you, and see if God is not true when He says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.