Romans 3:9-20 All are Guilty Under the Law

Romans recap:

Rom 1:1-7 intro

Rom 1:8-17 purpose and mission statement, reminds the reader that he desires to visit them for the first time

Rom 1:18-32 the godless

Rom 2:1-16 the moralist

Rom 2:17-3:8 the religious moralist

Rom 3:9-20    summarize the guilt of all men before God

Rom. 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

Who is we ?   Who is they ?

we, believers, better than these (ungodly, moralist, religious moralist)

10 as it is written, 

“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, 

THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; 

THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, 

THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

Psalm 14:1-3

Psa. 14:1 ¶ The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” 

They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; 

There is no one who does good.

Psa. 14:2 The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men 

To see if there are any who understand, 

Who seek after God.

Psa. 14:3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; 

There is no one who does good, not even one.

Psa. 14:4 ¶ Do all the workers of wickedness not know, 

Who eat up my people as they eat bread, 

And do not call upon the LORD?

Psa. 14:5 There they are in great dread, 

For God is with the righteous generation.

Psa. 14:6 You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, 

But the LORD is his refuge.

Psa. 14:7 ¶ Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! 

When the LORD restores His captive people, 

Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

Psalm 53:1-3

Psa. 53:1 ¶ The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” 

They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; 

There is no one who does good.

Psa. 53:2 God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men 

To see if there is anyone who understands, 

Who seeks after God.

Psa. 53:3 Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; 

There is no one who does good, not even one.

Psa. 53:4 ¶ Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge, 

Who eat up My people as though they ate bread 

And have not called upon God?

Psa. 53:5 There they were in great fear where no fear had been; 

For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you; 

You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.

Psa. 53:6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! 

When God restores His captive people, 

Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

why twice ?

Psalm 53 has two major revisions from Psalm 14

1. uses Elohim in place of YHWH for “Lord”  (meaning God) perhaps out of growing respect for His Holy name
   (14:2, 4, 7 … bolded above)
2. verse 5 and 6 in Psalm 14 are condensed into verse 5 in psalm 53 and expands “shame” into a warfare concept of “scattering bones of the enemy”

biggest reason seems to be reverence of the name YHWH (which was to not be spoken therefore , could not be sung)
(some scholars think this was to make it more appealing to others, I can’t see David changing the name of the Lord just so more people would sing it)

the Hebrew word for corrupt “Alach” means like milk turning sour. it is decayed, it reeks.

(in the NT, greek word is useless, ἀχρειόω, achreioō,  to become worthless, depraved
(coming from a – not, and Chraeo meaning needed)

13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, 

WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” 

“THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

Psalm 5:9

There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue. 

14 “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;

Psalm 10:7

Whose mouth is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of guile; travail and sorrow is under his tongue. (His mouth is full of curses, and of bitterness, and of deceit, or lies; trouble and sorrow be upon his tongue.)

15 “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,

16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,

17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.”

Isaiah 59:7

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths.

18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

note: Psalms in not chronologically sequenced:

these two are estimated to be written somewhere around 900-1000 bc (already a king)

(the oldest date back to approx 1060 bc, topics are persecution

9 victory over goliath

11 advised to flee to the mountains

64 persecution by Saul

142 in the cave of Adullam

psalm 90 stands out as est written in 1489 bc

“A Prayer of Moses”

these two psalms, Paul refers to, basically say:

“it is stupid to think there is no God”

“Every single one of them has turned away from God and pretends that they are not accountable to Him.”

“They are not blind, unable to see… they choose to act blind because they are altogether corrupt in their hearts.”

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

• whatever the law says about righteousness and sin, it says to everyone who lives under the authority of that law..
• It speaks for the purpose of closing every mouth (who would attempt to justify themselves by the law), so that everyone has to answer to God (who decides who is justified by that law)
• tells every single person that no one can be declared righteous before God by the law of God , because
• the law speaks only to give us knowledge of our sin, not a solution or cure.