Romans 3:9  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;
10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13  Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15  Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16  Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17  And the way of peace have they not known:
18  There is no fear of God before their eyes.
19  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.
20  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.

There are people today who believe that God has not been just with humanity. They assume that God has favoured the Jews and not treated the Gentiles equally. God reminds us here that this is not the case.
In our secular world, evolution is the standard way of looking at life. Racism is a very common term in the secular world. Sadly that term has also infiltrated much of what is called Christianity. Born again Christians should know better than to divide one another up by the evolutionary term of “race”. The Bible deals with nations and peoples. Colour is not a valid point of contention nor division in the Bible.
In our text, God directed Paul to remind us that it is wrong to assume that the Jew or the Gentile are superior. God declares that we are all born under sin. The Jews were given the law. They were very careless about that privilege. They did not want to be seen for trusting in the true God. They despised God’s choosing of them. They wanted to be seen as just like the lost people around them. The Jews proved that their nature is just the same as Gentiles. All of mankind is born in sin and responds to the love and mercy of God in the same way at first. A few from among the Jews and a few from among the Gentiles get saved. Paul will address this further in this chapter.
In verse 10, God declared that there is none righteous. From birth we are all the same. In verse 11 we are told that there is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after God. Those who are saved are saved by God’s grace. We need to invite the lost to consider the truth. The lost are being drawn by the Holy Spirit. However, those who are saved are called upon to be instruments that the Holy Spirit can use to draw others to the true God.
In verse 12 we see that all people have gone out of the way. Adam and Eve went out of the way. Cain was born lost and was out of the way. Abel was born a lost sinner but he chose to believe in God and his life was cut short by his wicked brother. Enoch walked with God while many of his generation cared nothing for God, etc.
God says the ungodly are unprofitable. They do not live for God and they do not help anyone else come to know the true God. This is certainly not what the lost want to hear. They want to be praised for being good and being an asset to society.
I have seen several headlines talking of how business owners do not want to hire “millennials”. Every generation is becoming more wicked and also more spoiled. Many of the millennials have never learned how to work hard. They do not know how to tough it out. They like to whine. They think they are so skilled and that the world owes them a living. They have never learned to do without. Their attitude is not good anywhere.
God says that there is none that doeth good. Again, this is not what people want to hear. They want to be praised. They take offence when the boss does not give them a bonus at the end of the year. They do not put out much effort, yet they assume they are irreplaceable and they deserve a bonus.
God used some very descriptive words to describe the lost. An open sepulchre would stink. God says the throat of the wicked is like an open sepulchre. The stench is revolting. The lost use their tongues for deceit. Lying is very common among the lost. Under their lips is as the poison of asps. This is not a good thing. They are a danger to society.
When we consider how God describes the lost, it helps those of us who are saved to appreciate the love of God a little more. In spite of the fact that we are born lost and are so abhorrent to God, He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary for our sins. Our sin is despicable to God. He knows that He is the only hope for mankind. Yet, on our own, we would never choose to turn to God. It is the Holy Spirit that works in the heart of the lost to bring them to salvation.
In verse 14 we see that the wicked cannot talk without cursing. That is quite common among the lost. Cursing is not a mark of intelligence. It is an indicator of a lack of intelligence. Not only do they like to curse, but they are also bitter people. They hold grudges and take offence to things very quickly. They have no desire to be helpful. As we look at this description given here, we can easily see the union mentality. We can also see what God thinks of that mentality. Unions teach their people they are hard done by. They try to convince them they are not being treated fairly.
In verse 15 we see further that the ungodly are swift to shed blood. We are seeing an increase of that in the last while as well. Violence is the result of godlessness. A person that does not want to know the true God and wants to just do his own thing, can be very ruthless. They don’t mind killing to get ahead.
Verse 16 tells us that destruction and misery are in their ways. This is how they live. They like to go out and cause trouble and destroy things. They are not satisfied in doing so, but that is all they know because of their wicked hearts. God is always reaching out to the lost but the lost are not interested in what God is offering.
In verse 17 we see further that the lost do not know what peace looks like. We have an environment minister in this country who is a terrorist. He did things just to try to get people to notice him. He is not interested in living in peace with others. He wants to stir things up and keep people on edge. He does not know God’s peace and he has no way of helping anyone else know that peace. He has done much to cause divisions in this land. God is giving us a foretaste of what the antichrist will be like.
There are times when the ungodly grow weary of the sinfulness. However, they have no idea of how to fix the problem, unless they repent and are saved. Then they can begin to help others to know the truth as well.
The wicked have no fear of God. They do not even consider God in their equation of life. When they are in trouble, they look for their version of God.
In verse 19 Paul reminds the saints that “we know”. There are things that saved people need to know. We need to know the facts and the only way we can know that is if we know the Prince of Peace. He wants us to know Him.
Once a person knows the true God, their pride and arrogance just kind of melts away. Saul (Paul) was a much different man after he was saved. He was now motivated to love people and seek to help them to know the truth. He needed to travel many miles. At times he took a ship to get to the place he needed to go to. He suffered much for his true faith in God. He did not complain. He encouraged others like Timothy to serve the Lord faithfully.
The lost are under the law. The law has condemned them because they are incapable of keeping the law. The law is very specific as to what man can and cannot do. Man is born under the curse of the law, and he soon learns that he cannot keep the law. Man may choose to try this again.
No flesh is justified in God’s sight by law keeping. The law reminds every person they are sinners. Most people work at trying to block that knowledge out of their mind. God is gracious and does not allow man to completely block Him out. It is such a blessing to know this true God and to abide in His love.
Pastor Bartel