Let me invite you to take your copy of God's Word and join me in Romans chapter 3.
Our text for today as we continue to make our journey through the book of Romans.
!
We find in this morning's text the doctrine of total depravity.
Put simply, this is the teaching that mankind lacks any spiritual good
and lacks the ability to do good before God.
I haven't stated this doctrine by its name,
but in our study of Romans, this has been the driving point that Paul has been making
from chapter 1 and verse 18 where he states,
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
And it concludes at verse 20 of today's text.
He wants to be so clear that anyone, whether of Jewish descent or otherwise,
lives under the curse of sin.
He wants us to be clear that this is true of us.
Romans chapter 2 and verse 12.
There he writes,
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.
And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
And he's doing all of this because this is the reasonable starting point
from which to prove his thesis for the entirety of this book,
which we will do throughout the rest of the letter.
And he states that thesis in chapter 1, verse 16 and 17,
where there he says,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,
as it is written,
the righteous shall live by faith.
Why might we care to pay attention to Paul's writing?
He tells us in verse 18 of chapter 1,
because of wrath.
He's saying, listen to what I have to say.
He's setting up the problem for us,
the due penalty for our sin.
All of mankind has a huge problem
that only finds its remedy in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Now, I have a note hanging taped to the wall in my study above my desk that reads,
and I picked this up somewhere.
I can't tell you where,
but I'm not going to take credit for it.
But it says this,
When preparing to preach,
remember the weary,
the wayward,
the proud,
the lazy,
and the lost.
Admittedly, I don't always remember,
and when I do remember,
I don't always do a good job
of applying a text to each of these categories of individuals.
So this morning,
I want to tackle the task up front,
and be sure.
To address each of these categories of people
in the hopes of preparing you for today's study.
So first, this morning,
you might find yourself weary.
Do not allow a text like this to beat you down.
If you are weary because you have been laboring to be accepted by our God,
be reminded today that you cannot be accepted by God by your works.
You are right to be worn out,
if that is what you have been up to this past week.
But you can be accepted by God through the works of another.
Rest today in the truth of the gospel,
even as we consider how wicked you once were.
Maybe this morning you are fit in the category of the wayward.
Perhaps God is already drawing you back to himself
as you find yourself here in my listening.
Maybe you have drifted in your faith.
This text should remind you of the folly of sin.
It can be so enticing on the front end,
but it leads nowhere but to destruction.
Return to your God.
He knows how feeble and easily tempted you are,
and stands ready to grant you grace in your repentance.
Maybe this morning you are proud.
Perhaps you have forgotten who you once were.
Be humbled that God saved one such as you.
Every one of us identifies with this text,
either as who we once were or who we now are.
Perhaps you think a text like this has nothing to teach you,
that you are so familiar with the doctrine of total depravity
that you need not hear it.
Be grateful that God has led you into this truth,
and rejoice in its declaration,
because other people may need to hear it.
Perhaps you find yourself lazy this morning.
Ty articulated well for us last week
that we are not saved by our works,
rather that we are saved by our faith,
but that faith is a faith that works.
Do not use God's grace towards you
as an excuse for licentious living.
If you are in Christ,
you should not presently identify
with the people described in our text.
They should feel like an other to you
if you are in Christ.
Labor by grace to live a life
that is honorable to our God.
And this morning,
if you are lost,
you have no hope apart
from the saving work of Christ.
Your soul is in a desperate state,
and you know that eternity
somewhere awaits you.
You know this because God has put
eternity into man's heart.
We learn this from Ecclesiastes chapter 3
and verse 11.
You know there is a something beyond.
You can spend eternity
in the loving presence of God
because he has made a way for you
to be declared innocent
and to be declared righteous.
Repent and believe in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
So our text for today is Romans chapter 3,
and I'll begin reading in verse 9.
Before I read,
let me remind you, beloved,
this is God's word to us,
written for his glory and our good.
And so we would all do well
to listen to it in order to believe
its promises and to obey its commands.
Paul writes,
Their throat is an open grave.
They use their tongues to deceive.
The venom of asps is under their lips.
Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood.
In their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Now we know that whatever the law says,
it speaks to those who are under the law
so that every mouth may be stopped,
and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
For by works of the law,
no human being will be justified in his sight,
since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Now at the end of chapter 2,
Paul has stated,
verse 28 and 29,
For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly,
nor is circumcision outward and physical,
but a Jew is one inwardly,
and circumcision is a matter of the heart,
by the spirit,
not by the letter.
His praise is not for man,
but from God.
So he's saying that belonging to God's people
is a matter of the inner life,
not the outer.
It's not about being circumcised.
It's not about being of Jewish descent.
And he's going to continue to work this argument out
throughout the letter.
But then he asks a question.
He's meeting objections all the time.
He's anticipating them,
and meeting them in chapter 3 and verse 1,
where he says,
Then, what advantage has the Jew?
Or, what is the value of circumcision?
And the answer is that it is of great value
because Israel was the nation
to whom came God's word.
That the law itself was of benefit to them.
Which leads him to ask the question
at the beginning of today's text.
What then, he says?
Beginning of verse 9,
Are we Jews any better off?
And he means any better off
in the sense of standing before God.
And we can see that by his answer.
He's saying,
Yes, yes to the Jews came the oracles of God.
You see this at the beginning of chapter 3.
However, in our standing before God,
does that change anything?
And in verse 9, he says,
No, not at all.
Why?
Because we have already charged
all throughout the past half of chapter 1
and through chapter 2,
that all, both Jews and Greeks,
are under sin.
And this is the point of today's text.
Right?
All, Jews and Greeks,
under sin.
This is the doctrine of total depravity.
In fact,
if you've been here with us,
you know that I've used this text
to proof and speak to
all that Paul has been trying to say
in the last of chapter 1
and into chapter 2.
So for today,
as we look at this text,
just a brief outline for us.
we're going to see first Paul make an accusation
and second Paul deliver a verdict.
Paul makes an accusation
and Paul delivers a verdict.
So we said in the last half of verse 9
in this accusation,
we have already charged all.
Jews and Greeks are under sin.
And at the beginning of verse 10,
we see,
As it is written.
Paul launches into his accusation of mankind
by citing 9 times
from the Old Testament.
It's a good, proper Bible preacher.
So I'm going to tell them to you.
You can probably see these in your footnotes.
But Psalm 14, verses 1-3.
Psalm 53, verses 1-3.
Psalm 5, 9.
Jeremiah 5, 16.
Psalm 140, verse 3.
Psalm 10, verse 7.
Proverbs 1, verse 16.
Isaiah 59, verses 7 and 8.
And Psalm 36, and verse 1.
He's bringing the Bible to bear.
Paul understood
that the Scripture of his day
was inspired by God.
And he's bringing it to bear
in the lives of his hearers.
And Paul makes 13 charges
in the following verses.
And he divides these charges
into three categories.
So the first charges
have to do with
the character
of fallen mankind.
And this is verses 10-12.
This is the classic
we're all familiar with.
None is righteous.
No, not one.
No one understands.
No one seeks for God.
All have turned aside.
Together they have become worthless.
No one does good.
Not even one.
Because of their fallen state,
mankind is universally evil,
spiritually ignorant,
misguided,
wandering,
spiritually useless.
This is where we derive
the term totally depraved.
And morally corrupt.
Altogether in character
set against God.
Biblical Christians
believe in the doctrine
of total depravity.
That we have
nothing good
of ourselves
to offer
to the equation
of our salvation.
But biblical Christians
also believe
in the doctrine
of common grace.
This means that
people aren't always
as bad as they could be
because God grants
mankind
some measure of grace
to be loving,
gentle,
kind,
just,
honest,
and so on.
We're not
all together
in the expression
of our sinful nature
as terrible
as we might
be
because God
is kind
even to those
who aren't His.
However,
no matter how good
someone might be,
no matter how
altruistic
one might show themselves,
they will never
be perfect.
and this
is righteousness.
We've already proven
that we're not
perfect.
Likely this morning,
you and I,
whether known
or unknown,
have proven
that we are not
perfect.
You and I,
by our strongest
of labors,
cannot even measure
up to the standard
of perfect law-keeping
because,
apart from Christ,
our very character,
our very nature
was corrupted.
Jesus says
in Matthew 5
and verse 48,
you,
therefore,
must be perfect
as your heavenly
Father
is
perfect.
If you do not
measure up
to the perfection
of God,
then you
cannot be
accepted
by
God.
This
is bad
news.
but it's
bad news
meant to
press us
to the
good news
that the
Lord Jesus
Christ
is the
perfect
law-keeper.
We need an
alien righteousness.
Chapter 1
and verse 17,
the righteousness
of God
to be granted
to us.
A second
category of
charges
have to do
with
mankind's
words.
And we see
these in
verses 13
and 14.
There Paul
says,
their throat
is an
open grave.
They use
their tongues
to deceive.
The venom
of asps
is under
their lips.
Their mouth
is full
of curses
and bitterness.
Jesus
says in
Matthew 12
that out of
the abundance
of the heart,
the mouth
speaks.
And we
are so
very
expressively
wicked
in the way
that we
speak.
Paul is
presenting
that same
principle here
that out of
the abundance
of the heart,
the mouth
speaks.
Because of
your character,
your words
are evil
and your
evil words
give evidence
of your
evil
character.
It's the
fruit that
comes out
of a
corrupted
nature.
Fallen
man is
deceptive.
They use
their tongues
to deceive.
Seats
the destruction
of,
is publicly
critical of,
and expresses
hostility
towards
others.
The venom
of asps,
destructive,
mouthful
of curses
and bitterness,
critical
and hostile
towards others.
take a
ride with
somebody
who claims
to be a
Christian
in the
car
and you'll
see some
of this
come out
of them.
Ought
not be
so.
He states
at the
beginning
of verse
13 that
their throat
is an
open
grave,
which is
to say
you can
look into
their mouths
and see
the dead
man
inside.
Third
category.
we see
in verses
15-17
which is
that their
actions,
their feet
are swift
to shed
blood,
in their
paths
are ruin
and misery,
and the
way of
peace
they have
not known.
In the
same manner
that Paul
makes charges
concerning
mankind's
words,
he also
does so
with their
actions.
The
things they
do,
the fruit
you can't
observe,
speaks to
who they
are.
Once again,
Jesus says,
Matthew chapter
7,
verse 17
and following,
so every
healthy tree
bears good
fruit,
but the
diseased
tree bears
bad
fruit.
A healthy
tree cannot
bear bad
fruit,
nor can a
diseased
tree bear
good
fruit.
Every
tree that
does not
bear good
fruit is
cut down
and is
thrown
into the
fire.
Now,
these actions
are fairly
self-explanatory,
swift to
shed blood,
murderous,
and their
paths are
ruin and
misery,
injustice,
and the
way of
peace.
Here,
I don't
think Paul
is referring
to the
sense of
peace,
or a
peace with
God,
but rather
a peace
amongst
mankind.
It
categorically
fits
together.
Mankind
is inherently
violent,
destructive,
and unjust.
Christ.
We can
access
examples
from history
and from
the local
news of
yesterday.
There's
just
evidence
of this
everywhere.
A quick
glimpse at
what's going
on in
France right
now,
and you
could say,
oh,
look at
how swift
to shed
blood.
Look at
the path
of ruin
and misery,
literal
paths
of ruin
and misery
and the
lack
of peace.
But let
us not
allow
ourselves
off the
hook
from
these
charges.
It's
very easy
to say,
well,
but not
like
them.
And
perhaps,
in
Jesus
in
Matthew
chapter
5,
verse
21,
there
says,
you have
heard that
it was
said to
those of
old,
you shall
not
murder,
and whoever
murders will
be liable
to judgment.
If you
murder,
you will
be judged.
And
Jesus
raises the
bar and
says,
but I
say to
you that
everyone who
is angry
with his
brother will
be liable
to judgment.
Whoever
insults his
brother will
be liable
to the
council,
and whoever
says,
you fool,
will be
liable to
the hell
of fire.
You could
sum that
up to say,
if you do
these things,
you also
are guilty
of murder.
Quick
to shed
blood
in the
way
that we
act.
After
lobbing all
these charges
and making
his accusation,
Paul tells
us the
motive of
it all.
Verse
18,
there is
no fear
of God
before their
eyes.
They do
not fear
God.
Robert
Haldane,
a Scottish
theologian,
wrote a
really wonderful
commentary on
the book of
Romans called
Exposition of
Romans.
He wrote
this,
it is
astonishing
that men,
while they
acknowledge that
there is a
God,
should act
without any
fear of
his
displeasure.
Yet this
is their
character.
They fear
a worm of
the dust
like themselves,
but disregard
the most
high.
They are
more afraid
of man
than of
God,
of his
anger,
his contempt,
or ridicule.
The fear
of man
prevents them
from doing
many things
from which
they are
not restrained
by the
fear of
God.
They love
not his
character,
not rendering
to it
veneration,
which is
due.
They respect
not his
authority.
Such is
the state
of human
nature
while the
heart
is
unchanged.
There is
the bad
news,
right?
By very
nature
turned away
from a
fear
of God.
And this
is a
puzzling
thing.
Beloved,
we have
been
created.
Chapter
1,
Paul says
that it's
evidenced
that this
is the
case.
There is
a God
who has
created,
and yet
the
unrighteousness
of man
suppresses
that truth,
and God
gives
mankind
over
to that
foolishness.
What a
tragic thing.
And if
you're in
Christ this
morning,
it's who
you once
were.
And so
we have
such reason
to praise
God for
the gospel
of Jesus.
If you
are not
now in
Christ,
it's who
you are.
I pray
that you
would listen
to the
words of
Paul.
So Paul
brings this
accusation,
and then he
delivers
a verdict.
Second
point.
First he
says,
now we
know that
whatever the
law says,
it speaks
to those
who are
under
the
law,
so that
every
mouth
may be
stopped.
So he's
talking again
to Jewish
people
specifically,
and I'm
always
tempted,
it's probably
proper to
draw it to
our context,
for people
who mostly
grew up
in church,
mostly grew
up being
taught
God's
word.
Not every
one of us
I know,
but for the
most part
we have.
So what
purpose does
it serve
us?
We would
know that
we're sinful,
right?
Every mouth
would be
stopped,
and the
whole world,
last part
of verse
19,
may be
held
accountable
to
God.
For by
works of
the law
no human
being will
be justified
in his
sight,
since through
the law
comes
knowledge
of sin.
To be
justified
before God
is to be
declared
righteous.
To be
declared
righteous.
And there
are two
parts to
the equation
of our
justification.
Firstly,
our sin
must be
forgiven.
If you
were to
stand before
a judge
and he
would declare
you justified,
he would
have to
first
forgive
your sin,
your sin
expunged
from
the record.
But for
God to
maintain
his justice
as a
judge,
he can't
simply dismiss
it altogether.
He must
punish it.
If he's
going to
be a
perfect
judge,
it must
be
punished.
And this
is why
the Lord
Jesus
Christ
came
and died
to bear
our
punishment
on our
behalf.
But if
we stop
there,
we are
only brought
up to
neutral.
The record
has been
canceled,
but now
we stand
with nothing.
We need
something
credited
to our
account
in order
to be
declared
righteous,
to be
justified.
What do
we need?
We need
perfect
law keeping.
We need
righteousness.
A thing
that's clearly
being established
that we
cannot do.
If you have
any doubt
of that,
go back
to the
beginning
of chapter
1 and
read through
the end
of verse
20 of
chapter 3.
Paul is
being so
very clear.
You
cannot
do it.
You
have
failed
and you
will
always
fail
under
your
own
power
to
live
up
to
the
demands
of
the
law.
And so,
by faith,
not only does
Christ take
our punishment
from us,
but he
also gives
to us
his
righteousness.
The doctrine
is called
double
imputation.
He takes
away,
it's given
to him
our sin,
he gives
to us
his
righteousness.
this
will
not
happen
by
the
works
of
the
law.
And
the
whole
world
will
stand
before
God
in
judgment.
There he
says,
the whole
world
will be
held
accountable
to
God.
Remember
back in
chapter 1
in verse
18,
Paul says,
the wrath
of God
is revealed
from heaven
against
all
ungodliness
and
unrighteousness
of men.
On
that great
day of
judgment,
you will
not be
able to
stand
before
God
and
make
an
appeal
to
your
attempt
to
keep
his
law.
It
would
be
a
waste
of
breath.
I
believe
that
when
you
stand
before
him
on
that
day,
you
won't
try
to
make
an
appeal
to
your
attempt
to
keep
his
law.
For
by
works
of
the
law,
no
human
being
will
be
justified
in
his
sight.
The
law
makes
us
aware
of
our
failure,
of
our
sinfulness.
That's
the
bad
news.
On
that
great
day
of
judgment,
the
law
will
only
serve
to
show
you
guilty
for
your
failure
to
keep
it
perfectly.
So
we
must
make
our
appeal
elsewhere.
And
this
is
the
good
news
of
the
gospel.
And
we
will
be
unpacking
this
at
length
in
the
coming
months,
beginning
next
week.
But
we
can't
just
in
there.
Can
we?
What
is
the
appeal
I've
mentioned
already?
It's
the
person
and
the
work
of
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ.
We
will
say,
look,
I
am
forgiven
and
clothed
in
the
righteousness
of
Christ.
Jesus
will
stand
there
in
approval
of
such
a
claim
if
we
are
in
fact
found
in
him.
And
so
let's
look
just
briefly
at
the
next
two
verses
beyond
today's
text.
Paul
has
completed
this
stage
in his
argument
and he's
moving on.
Remember,
still unpacking
this idea
of the
gospel
being the
righteousness
of God
for us.
A thing
that we
should be
proud of,
right?
That the
righteous
might live
by faith.
A faith
that's given
to us
as a
gift
in
Christ.
So he
says
in verse
21,
but now
the
righteousness
of
God,
it's
God's
righteousness,
has been
manifested
apart
from the
law.
The
righteousness
of God
has been
manifested
apart
from the
law.
He is
referring
to
Jesus
Christ's
perfect
law
keeping.
It has
been
made
manifested.
It has
been shown
in
Christ.
Although
the
law
and
the
prophets
bear
witness
to
it.
The
law
and
the
prophets,
the whole
New Testament,
point us
to
Christ
and His
righteousness,
the righteousness
of
God.
The
righteousness
of God
through
faith
in Jesus
Christ
for all
who
believe.
And this
is the
cost
of
justification
that we
would merely
turn from
our sin
and place
our faith
in the
Lord
Jesus
Christ.
That we
would
understand
that yes,
apart from
Him,
I am
altogether
unworthy.
I am
totally
depraved
apart
from
Christ.
I do
not
seek
good.
I am
part of
the no
one
that Paul
here
is talking
about.
But yet,
through
faith
in
Christ,
I can
be
declared
righteous
before
God,
accepted
into
His
loving
arms
forever.
Let's
pray
together.