Romans 3:9-20

Every Mouth Shut

We learn in Romans 3 that under sin no one can ever be good enough before God. When God’s Word silences every defense, Christ alone is our only hope.

No One Stands Above the Charge (verse 9).
No One Escapes the Evidence (verses 10–18).
No One Can Answer the Verdict (verses 19–20).

No one stands above the charge (verse 9).

Paul writes to the believers in Rome of the universal reality that none can escape the wrath of God outside of the work of Jesus Christ. Each person stands before God, guilty and condemned because of sin. Comparison is foolish, because no one is better than another.

Though we do not sin equally, we do stand equally condemned because we are all under sin. Scripture says we are under sin’s rule (Rom. 5), under God’s wrath and dead in our trespasses (Eph. 2), enslaved to sin (Rom. 6), blind in darkness (2 Cor. 4), hostile in mind (Rom. 8), unclean in heart (Isa. 64), and condemned in Adam (Rom. 5).

To be under sin means sin is our master, guilt is our record, wrath is our future, death is our condition, and self-defense is impossible.

We are indebted to the mercy and grace of God for our salvation in Jesus Christ.

No one escapes the evidence (verses 10-18).

Scripture exposes universal corruption at the core of who we are. Paul repeats what God spoke in the Old Testament that “none are righteous, not even one.”

The standard for God’s righteousness is God’s standard alone. God’s Word is the standard by which we are to measure ourselves.

Paul states that no one understands God, sin, righteousness, or the way of salvation rightly, and none seek after God. A mind darkened under sin cannot reason oneself into righteousness. Only God can open the mind and the heart.

Not only do we fail to seek God, but we have also turned aside from Him. We have willfully departed from following God and have decided to go our own way. The good news is that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost.

Like the Romans, may we consider how God has saved us and provided righteousness through the person and work of Jesus Christ alone!

No one can answer the verdict (verses 19-20).

Application Points

Are you living overwhelmed by God’s grace in your life? Do not fail to recognize all the ways God has rescued you.

Tools for Further Study

Cross References to Explore

Psalm 5, 14, 36, 53, 140; Isaiah 53, 59

A Quote to Ponder

R.C. Sproul summarizes an observation Thomas Aquinas made regarding human nature and the desire for God: “man seeks the benefits of God while fleeing from God Himself.”

A Hymn to Encourage: “My Hope Is in the Lord”

words by Norman J. Clayton

My hope is in the Lord, Who gave Himself for me, And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.

For me, He died; for me, He lives, And everlasting life and light He freely gives.

No merit of my own, His anger to suppress. My only hope is found in Jesus’ righteousness.

And now for me He stands, Before the Father’s throne. He shows His wounded hands and names me as His own.

His grace has planned it all, ‘Tis mine but to believe, And recognize His work of love and Christ receive.