Alright, as I said, Romans 3
is our text this morning. We're interested principally
in verse 9 through verse 19, but I'm going to begin at verse
1 and read all 19 verses so we might have more of the context. in Romans 3 and 1 through 19. And let me tell you my subject
today that you might be looking for as we read across the text. I want to speak today on the
depravity factor. The depravity factor is my subject
of the day. Here's our text. What advantage
then hath the Jew, or what profit in circumcision? Much every way. chiefly because that unto them
were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not
believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without effect? God forbid, yea, let God be true,
but every man a liar, as it is written, that thou mightest be
justified in thy sayings and might overcome when thou art
judged." That's Psalm 51, verse 4. But if our righteousness commend
the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous
who takes vengeance? I speak as a man. God forbid! For then how shall God judge
the world? But if the truth of God hath
more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I
also judged as a sinner? And not, rather, as we be slanderously
reported, and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil that
good may come, whose damnation is just. Now watch verse 9 and
following. 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 understandeth. 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 supplicar. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of asp 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 thing soever
the law says, it says to them who are under the law, watch
this, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God. Now my subject again is the depravity
factor, and this is the text that I have lighted upon. As we follow Paul here in this
Roman epistle, coming to this particular place, we see that
Paul has been carefully and methodically laying a foundation deep and
wide. When we use the word methodically
in this sense, it means that he is systematically or that
he is orderly building something or building up a case. He is
putting everything in its proper order. He is building upon a
premise and toward a conclusion. He is laying stone upon stone
in order that he might build a house that cannot be blown
down. to make that conclusion concerning
the depravity factor that both Jews and Gentiles are both of
them, all of them, under sin. And this will be proved later
in the course of our study. There is the first climax to
which Paul is ascending in this particular section of the Roman
Epistle. Now, it is essential for Paul
that he might gain his end to establish the doctrine of human
depravity. He must establish it beyond all
question and all denial. And he must do that, prescribe
depravity, know it, and set it forth in order that he might
prescribe a good or a proper remedy. just as when you go to
a physician. The first thing he must do is
diagnose your disease or your sickness in order that he might
prescribe then a medicine that might do it good. Now this all
starts with Paul back in chapter 1 of Romans, where Paul, back
about verse chapter 1, verses 16, 17, and 18, he speaks there
of two revelations that are set forth in the Roman Epistle. Now, the first revelation is
in Romans 1 and verse 17. This is the revelation of the
righteousness of God that is revealed and proclaimed in the
Gospel. Now, Paul does not restrict this
to a bare revelation itself. But he means that it is working
and it reveals a righteousness. In other words, he is saying
it is operative in the world with a saving effect. There is a righteousness of God
that is revealed in the gospel that works among men with saving
effect. It is revealed in the saving
of sinners. It operates, as John Murray put
it, as the righteousness of God, quote, redemptively active in
the sphere of human sin and ruin, unquote. Now, the second revelation
that Paul mentions back in chapter 1, is in the 18th verse. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all unrighteousness and all ungodliness of man. And again, as with the first
revelation, the second, the wrath of God, is not going to be revealed,
but it is revealed. It is operative in the world
of men. It has been praised. There is
a positive outgoing of a divine displeasure, and it is seen on
practically every hand. It is manifesting. It is operating. It is going forth. The wrath
of God against the unrighteousness of men. And the revelation then,
or the relation rather, of these two revelations is after this
manner. The revelation of the righteousness
of God in the gospel is the reason for it being revealed. It is
set forth in the Word. For, if you look at that in Romans
1.18, for, or because, or since, or on account of, the
wrath of God is also revealed against the unrighteousness of
men. Now, let's take note of what
Paul writes in the third chapter, verse 9, and the last part of
our text that we read. It says this, For we have before
charged or proved whichever both Jew and Gentile, that they are
all under sin. Romans 3 and verse 9. Now you might see it rendered
other ways. We previously accused both Jew
and Gentile. We laid, says Paul, an accusing
charge against both the Jew and the Gentile. And we should be
sure to understand that Paul's bill of indictment is drawn up
against both the Gentile and also the Jew, and not against
the Gentile only, for he brings in the Jew. The charge is this. They are all, or both of them,
Jew and Gentile, under sin. Now that's a strong statement.
and we must not let it slip. They are all under sin. And Paul says, we have accused
them both that they are under sin. What does Paul mean here
by saying they are under sin? The two words or mighty powerful. They are under sin. Or does He mean to tell them
that they are both under the dominion of sin? Or does He mean
to say that they are both sinners in the sight of Almighty God? Or does He have in mind also
the guilt of sin that both of them are under? The first two
are correct, but it must include the third as well, that it is
guilt. As Calvin put it, the apostle
has summoned all mankind to the tribunal of God in order that
he might conclude all under one and the same sentence. So the
question then arises during our study. What does Paul have reference
to here in his words? We have charged or accused before. We have before charged or accused
that all are under sin. And I would answer that the most
probable answer is what is written back in Romans 1 verse 18 down
through chapter 2 and verse 24. Where in the first, Romans 1,
18-32, he shows the depravity of the Gentile or of the pagan. Though he places a heavy, heavy
emphasis upon the sin of homosexual vice, chapter 1, verse 24-27.
Yet, in verse 29-32, there is a very long catalog of other sins,
all kinds of sin, raw and unfettered depravity, of which the Gentiles
stood guilty and had committed in time past. Then, in the second
chapter, excuse me a frog, Then in the second chapter, the apostle
levels his charges there against the Jew. We might also include
in that the sanctimonious, moralist, and religionist of the world. Those who might chaff, those
who might chafe at being numbered and classified were those in
chapter one. It might be a great insult to
be lumped together with those that are in chapter 1 and say
that we all are sinners in the sight of God. But in the second
chapter, the apostle really takes aim at the hypocrite and the
self-righteous, and especially here, rebuking the pride and
the arrogance and the national spirit of the Jew They're boasting
and they're resting in the fact of their heritage. For example,
chapter 2, verse 17 through verse 20, Yet they did many things
that were contrary to the law. They boasted loudly in the extent
that the name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles because of
them, Paul said. Now let's get in chapter 3 and
work our way to the text we have for today. And see Paul first
meets and he answers some questions and some objections. Now this
occupies the first eight verses of Romans chapter 3. Such questions
there as, verse 1, what advantage then has the Jew? Question number
2 in verse 1. What profit then is there in
circumcision? Verse 3, what if some are without
faith? What if some do not believe the
oracles of God that were committed unto them? Verse 5 through verse
8, Paul answered some of the objections that either had been
or might be raised against his teaching. as if he were a libertine
in what he was teaching, as you find in verse 8 of chapter 3. Some said his teaching amounted
to, let us sin that good may come. Others charged Paul with
saying, let us sin in order that grace may abound, in Genesis
6 and verse 1. Let us sin that that might be. Now, this point Quickly, any
who teach free grace are subjects to be branded as libertines by
the liberals and the Arminians in our day. And the merit mongers,
any who teach the free grace of God in justification will
at one time or another be called a licentious preacher. Now, the
two questions in verse 1, chapter 3. no doubt have to do with what
Paul had written back in chapter 2 and verse 25 through verse
29, where he says essentially, a true Jew is one not outwardly,
but inwardly. And true circumcision is not
that of the flesh, but in the hidden man of the heart. Now
one might hear this from Paul and conclude, well, If that be
the case, then there's no advantage in being a Jew. No advantage
in being an offspring of Abraham. Again, they might ask, what then
is the profit of circumcision? If the uncircumcised, that is
the Gentiles, may keep the righteousness of God and be counted as circumcision,
or reckoned as circumcision, Where then is the advantage of
being a Jew or having the mark of circumcision? What is the
profit? Well, you notice that Paul very
quickly answers in verse 2. Much every way. Much profit every
way. In many respects. And he names
the chief way in which they were advantaged. Verse 2. Unto them
were committed the oracles of God. Unto that nation was committed
the oracles of God. Not just the prophets orally
speaking, but also the Word of the Scripture. Now, the word
oracles that's here is four times used in our New Testament in
the King James. And the word is logion, and seems
to have the meaning, an utterance of God, an inspired word of our
God. The other three places where
it's used, Acts 7 and verse 38, Hebrews 5 and 12, and 1 Peter
chapter 4 and verse 11. In other words, the Jews had
an advantage in that they had the sacred writings. They had the Holy Scripture. See the privileges of the Jews
enjoyed in Romans 9, 4, and 5, where there is a longer list.
Paul does not name any of those, but he names that of having the
oracles of God. Well, then that brings up another
question in verse 3. of Romans 3, what about those
Jews who did not believe the oracles of God or the Word of
God? Does this nullify the faith of
God or the Word of God that some of them did not believe? No, says Paul, for if every man
is a liar Yet God is true. His Word is true. And coming
to verse 9, and Paul asks a question, What then? Paul's always doing
that in order that he might answer or that he might correct some
objection or answer a question. What then? Are we better? And the question is, what is
to be concluded between the Jew and the Gentile? What is the
state of the case? What follows from all that has
been said? What shall we say is a favorite
way of Paul expressing it. And then he asks the question,
are we better? By the we, I am persuaded that
Paul means the Jew, and he includes himself here among them by the
use of the word we, asking are we more excellent We Jews, are
we more excellent than them with all their privileges, with all
of their advantages, having the oracles of God, being descended
from Abraham, having the law, and having the covenants? Are
they better than the Gentiles? Paul's answer is emphatic. No. Not at all. In no wise. In no way. His literal meaning is simply,
not at all. Are we better? Not at all. Absolutely not. Even if God had
highly privileged them in a way that He did not the Gentiles,
this did not mean that they were better. Yes, they had been given
the privileges and the advantages that God bestowed upon them that
were withheld from the Gentile people for centuries. But this
did not make them morally superior, and it did not exempt them from
being a sinner in the sight of God. And this is where Paul then
applies the depravity factor here for us to consider in the
way. He means Himself and the Jews. And now the depravity factor
He is setting forth. Gentiles, Jews, they are all
under sin. And this comes to the conclusion,
down in verse 19, that every mouth may be stopped. All the
world may become guilty before God. We'll say more about that
later. But back to verse 9. And verse
10, when Paul says that all are under sin, he does not drop the
subject. He might have, as he did in 3.23,
and gone on with something else. But he does not drop the subject. He does not leave them in the
slightest doubt the meaning of his words. which is that the
depravity factor is provable upon two grounds. A, it is provable
upon the immoral behavior of the human family. The family
of humanity is a history of depravity. And as you look over the course
of history, depravity is everywhere. The immoral behavior of mankind
brought the flood, brought Sodom and Gomorrah and other things. But secondly, this depravity
factor is also established upon the clear, unwavering testimony
of the Scripture. See the conclusion in verse 9,
the last part. They are all under sin. And then look at the first part
of verse 10. As it is written. Tie the two together. That they
are all under sin as it is written. And now Paul is going to take
them into the Scripture. Paul means that it is written. It is written in the oracles
of God that were committed unto them as a nation of Jews. Paul is wisely now appealing
to their profession to believe the Scripture to be the infallible
Word of God. They made that profession. They
accepted the canon of the Scripture as the infallible Word of God,
saying to them at the time, Moses said so and so. Moses said this,
David said that. Now, Paul shuts them up, therefore,
to the authority of the Scripture. And this would be, of course,
the Old Testament Scripture. And really, the depravity factor
was something that they should have known. They should have
been well acquainted with the depravity factor, just as the
Gentiles I exhibit it unto them in every way of behavior. Just
as Nicodemus should have known about the new birth. Art thou
a teacher of Israel? And you know not these things.
Why? Because spiritual renewal the
new birth, regeneration, is spoken of very clearly in the prophets
of old, particularly Jeremiah. So, as it is written, and Paul
will now take them up on a bumpy ride. And at this point, let
us take note that everything stated, just about everything
stated in verses 10 through verse 18, is a direct quote from some
part of the Old Testament Scripture. He is just simply quoting unto
them one Scripture after another. They were written by different
men. They were written in different times in history, and yet they
stand in full agreement concerning the depravity factor and the
sinfulness of men. Just very quickly to prove that,
let's identify the places that are quoted. That's all I'm doing
right now. Verse 10 through verse 12 of
Romans chapter 3 are references to two places in the psalm. Psalm 14, 1 through 3, and again
in Psalm 53 and 1 through 3. Almost verbatim, those two psalms
agree. Verse 13 of chapter 3 includes
a combination of Psalm 5 and verse 9 and Psalms 100 and 40
and verse 3. Verse 14 is taken from Psalm
10 and verse 7. Verses 15 through verse 17 are
a reference to Isaiah 59, verse 7, and verse 8. And verse 18 about
the fear of God is taken from Psalm 36 and verse 1. So you can see again that Paul
is simply quoting the Old Testament Scripture. What he has done is
quote a few Scriptures in support of his charge that all are under
sin. It is written. Thus saith the
Scripture. Reminds me of an experience from
quite a few years ago now that I remember vividly sometimes
when I think about that. A preacher friend would drop
by. We would always get in a discussion. He would wind up defending Arminianism
and me defending the sovereign grace of God And I would quote
him, Scripture, Scripture, Scripture. And one day he got so agitated,
he jumped up out of his chair, he squared on me and he said,
all you've done is quote a few verses of Scripture. And I thought,
hmm, hmm. Another time we were going at
it, I quoted something from Job and he said, look here, you can't
take everything you read in the book of Job. Now, what are we
going to do if we do not stand upon the Scripture and the Word
of God? And that's what Paul does here
in this particular place. The point is this. Scripture
alone. When forming doctrine, Scripture
only. When preaching, Scripture is
the only sure guide. When determining the moral state
and condition of the race, Scripture is the only guide that reveals
unto us their true state. Now, in verse 10, he said, as
it is written, there is none righteous. And this is emphatic. He means to say, not even one. And if you look at those two
places in Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, you'll read that God made
a survey. God looked out to see if there
were any such, and there were none. And he thinks they have
a good point. Who sees Paul, see Paul's leading
proposition as being this one here, there is none righteous. For consider the thing that is
lacking, righteousness." One of the key words in the Roman
epistle, I couldn't count how many times we run across it in
the Roman epistle. John Murray wrote on his Roman
epistle, righteousness is the standard by which sin is to be
judged. and that the absence of righteousness
means the presence of sin." So that righteousness signifies
holy, innocent, just, right. Righteousness is all of that. And see how Paul lays the charge
saying, not one is righteous. The word he uses simply, there
is no exception. Not one. Among all the sons of
men and the daughters of Adam, there is not one that is in themselves
righteous before God. The same exception as you have
in John 1. Nothing was made except by the
Lord Jesus Christ. There are no exceptions. In those passages again, Psalm
14 and Psalm 53, portray the Lord under the metaphor of a
watchman, if you will, upon a great and a high tower, looking down,
and the eyes of omniscience run here and there, to and fro, in
all places, among all people, and among all nations, searching
every corner of the world or the globe, observing the masses
in their activity. The object and purpose of the
search by God is to see if any did understand and if any did
seek the Lord. And none did. And that's what
Paul is playing from. What were the results? Everyone
had gone astray. They all together had become
filthy and unprofitable, with none that did good, no, not even
one single person. Charles Spurgeon wrote on these
two Psalms, quote, he saw all nations and all men in all nations,
and all hearts in all men and all nations, but saw not a clean
heart among them all." The Lord looked and saw none. Now we see
from Paul and from these Psalms and all Scripture that this lack
of righteousness cuts in both directions when we look at it. Number one, an unrighteous person
will not understand. There is none that understand. Their understanding is darkened
and clouded by depravity. And as a result, there is none
that seek after God. There is none righteous So there's
none that understand, so there's none that seek God. They're all
gone out of the way without understanding. They also lack the desire as
well as the ability to seek God and to find Him. Some say, Job
21.14, depart from us. We desire not the knowledge of
thy way. That's how men talk to God. Others say there is no God. And
many, when practicing their religion, set up idols as their objects
of worship, rather than the God of heaven. So as Calvin wrote
in Romans 3, their ignorance is soon proved by their failure
to seek after God. Secondly, however, there is another
factor. Because they are not righteous,
They commit many sins, both against others and against their God. Look at v. 13-15 again, the mention of bodily
members as instruments of their sin. He says their throat is
like an open grave that gives off the stench of death or of
a corpse. Their tongues speak lies, and
deceit. The poison of asps is under their
lips. They bite like a deadly stinging
serpent and their mouth is full of cursing and of bitterness. Filthy speech, vulgarity, blasphemy,
lies for this faculty gives vocal expression to that which is in
the heart. of men and women. We heard an
old-timey country expression that I'll never forget, that
what's in the well comes up in the bucket. That you let the
bucket down in the well to draw, and whatever is in the well will
come up in the bucket. Sometimes you'd get a frog when
you drew a bucket of water. And their speech shows what is
in their heart. Not only so, but look at verse
15. And verse 16, their depravity spurs them to violence against
their fellow man. They are spurred to violence
by their depravity. They shed blood. That is, they
are murderers. They destroy. They wreak havoc
and misery. One commentator called this a
description of the ferociousness immeasurable barbarity." And
that's a good description of some. Look at verse 17. They have no knowledge of the
way of peace at all. Look at verse 18. There is no
fear of God before their eyes. And the person who has no fear
of God before their eyes is a dangerous person indeed. Now, the essence
of the depravity factor is this. The human family has fallen into
sin. Not one exception. This fall
occurred in and through Adam, by whom sin entered into the
world, and death by sin, and that passed upon all mankind. If you need a text, Romans 5
and verse 12. This is a teaching of Scripture.
Genesis 3 records for us the fall, and it's not a myth. It's the inspired record. All
sin and all death is because of sin and the fall of Adam. The race fell and the earth was
cursed because of that. Genesis 3, 17 through 19, Romans
Chapter 8, 19 through 23. Furthermore, Scripture teaches
that all are born depraved into the world. Everybody in the world,
according to the Scripture, is a sinner. Now, I didn't say that
everyone sins to their full potential. Not everyone is a serial killer. Not all are pederasts. Not all
are sexual deviants. Not all are atheists. Not all
murder their children, but some do. Not all murder their children,
some do. Not all commit incest, but some
do. Not all will murder someone,
but many will, and they do, and they have. And all are liars
according to the Word of the Lord. Depravity, therefore, hovers
over all human relationship. Would one marry? Then remember
how many there are that are unfaithful. Would one procreate children?
Then know that their natures are corrupt and that from the
day of their birth. Who can look on the conduct of
Adam's children and deny depravity? Of course, there are many who
call it a sickness Others who would call it a disease. Others
say that it is a mental problem and would solve it by therapy
and by drugs. Others evade dealing with a fall
and sin by invoking evolution and saying bad behavior only
comes from bad examples or a bad environment and that there is
no sin to be saved from. There is no God whose judgment
is to be feared, and there is no hell to be escaped. That's
what you do with evolution. One's view of God affects their
worldview, my brother and sister. Your worldview will be affected
by the view that you hold of the depravity of the human family. This will flavor, this will color,
this will affect the view that you have of the world. And one
cannot pass through this world without coming to some conclusion
about depravity. For it's the 800-pound gorilla
in the room. It cannot be ignored. It is worse
than most have ever imagined. While some sing the praises of
men and say that all are basically good history, experience, And
the Scripture declare otherwise. History is bloody and violent. Experience has seen depravity
up close. And Scripture in no way flatters
man as being good and being righteous. In fact, just the opposite. Now, does God view the world
of mankind? as being good? Does God look
on the world and say, my, what good, noble creatures they all
are? I say, not by the hair of your
chinny-chin-chin. If depravity is not a factor,
you don't believe in depravity, then tell me why you have locks
on every door, bars over our windows, razor wire on top of
the fence outside, theft insurance on everything that you own? Why are there bank robberies
almost every day? Why all identity theft? Why is the government so corrupt? What a mighty bloody count on
the news every evening. The body count of some more. and robberies and rapes and assaults
every day. It may not be a stretch to say
that only a Christian can have a good and proper view of depravity. Not only because they are aware
of it themselves, but it is the clear testimony of the Scripture,
the Word of God. Scripture has concluded all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous,
no, not one." Well, that's a pretty bad picture, is it not? So in
closing we ask, is there a remedy for this awful depravity factor? Is there any hope? And we can
say there is one. The suffering, the blood, the
death of Christ upon the cross. He was made sin. He bore the
sin of many in His own body. And God punished our sin in that
substitute after making Him to be sin for us. He spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up, Paul says in Romans 8. He
came to save His people from their sin. Victory over sin is
not gained by personal reformation, or by therapy, or by turning
over a new leaf, or by a New Year's resolution. Only the blood
of Christ can atone for sin and wash us in His own blood from
our sin. Only the death and blood of the
Savior. So yes, there is great hope. There is one hope. There is one
way. Free justification by Christ's
blood, for it is not just the pollution of sin, it is the guilt
of sin as well. Not only are we polluted with
it, but we stand guilty of it. And only the blood of Christ
is able to cleanse us, to save us, to justify sinners in the
sight of God. For that, we're very thankful.
The depravity factor is awful when we consider it, but how
precious then the cure, the death and blood of Christ, our dear
Redeemer and substitute. All right, may we stand, please,
that we might pray.