The Indictment...Romans 3

http://billrandles.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/the-indictment-romans-3/ ^ | 08-07-10 | Bill Randles

[pastorbillrandles]

The Indictment…Romans 3 Posted on August 7, 2010 by billrandles

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.Their throat is an open sepulchre; 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.(Romans 3;10-17)

The summary of the teaching of Romans 1-2, is a Divine, fourteen count indictment of the human race, all are included in it, Jew and Gentile. Drawing from Isaiah and the Psalms, the whole human race is declared by God to be ‘under sin’.

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;(Romans 3:9)

The very phrase,’under sin’ is revealing, because it causes us to understand that sin itself is more than an action it is a state of being, a spiritual status. One is either ‘under grace’ or ‘under sin‘. The Law of God that Paul cites, is testimony that all, gentile and Jew are ‘under sin’, and in need of salvation.

There is none Righteous- This is a quote from Psalm 14, where the Lord actually searches the earth for even one good man, and declares that no one, not even one is good enough…

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

There is none that understandeth-This probably comes from the same Psalm, as well as incorporating Proverbs 9- which declares that “By the Knowledge of the Holy is understanding”. Those who have a sense of God’s holiness, that leads to worshipful awe and reverence, have ‘understanding’.

But Who has lived by such a sense and acted on it ? Nobody- says the Lord.

There is none that seeketh after God-This dispels the oft repeated myth about false religions such as Islam, Bhuddism, and Hinduism, that those who practice such are for the most part seeking after the true God and unable to find Him. Nothing could be further from the Truth- There is none that seeketh after God!

These religions and all false religion and irreligion are manifestations of God rejection. Man would worship anything but the true God, whose wrath is revealed from heaven, and who made us in His Image and claims sovereignty over our lives!

Since it is true that “There is none that seeketh after God”, how does anyone ever ‘find God’ ? Those who come to the saving knowledge of God didn’t seek Him until He himself put it into their hearts to seek Him. As Jesus said in John 15,

You did not choose Me but I chose you…(John 15:16)

They are all gone out of the way…-This means that everyone is turned away from God, His will, desire for Him, literally it means that we all lean away from Him. We were created to know and enjoy God forever, but since the fall of man, we have all inclined ourselves away from God as much as possible.

They are together become unprofitable- The word for a useless slave, a horse with a broken leg, spoiled merchandise. God has declared that in our natural state, there is not one person that He can actually use as they are.

There is none who do good-God’s evaluation is what counts, not man’s.Man says something like, ‘Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, or Ghandi sure do a lot of good in this world.”But God has said there is none that doeth good !

This is hard for people to accept, because deep in the heart of the human race, there is the false belief that there is still a lot of ‘good’ in the human heart, in spite of all of our glaring ‘faults’. My hope at one time was that my “good deeds would out weigh my bad deeds” so that I could get to heaven.

What a bitter pill to swallow, that there is none that doeth good… then as if to emphasize it to the humanistic hopers among us, he states, …no, not one.Do you believe in God’s indictment of you? can you justify the one who brings such a damning charge against you? We will continue this tomorrow…

[EternalVigilance]

Well done.

I’ve passed this along to everyone I can.

[pastorbillrandles]

Thank you - may God bless His truth!

[Jmouse007]

Thanks for continuing to faithfully exegete Romans, looking forward to THE ANSWER to man’s dilemma = Romans 3:21ff :o)God Bless