Romans 3:9-18 - The Ugliest Passage
- Chad Werkhoven
- Jun 18
- 4 min read
Understanding the totality of your depravity is key to living in God's grace.
Romans 3:9-18 (NIV)
CONTEXT: Paul's been deflating the idea that the Jewish people had an advantage over the Gentiles in gaining salvation.
9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.” Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3, Eccl. 7:20
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.” Psalm 5:9
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.” Psalm 140:3
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” Psalm 10:7
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.” Isaiah 59:7-8
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Psalm 36:1
Canons of Dordt
Article 1: The Effect of the Fall on Human Nature
Human beings were originally created in the image of God
and were furnished
in mind with a true and sound knowledge of the Creator and things spiritual,
in will and heart with righteousness,
and in all emotions with purity;
indeed, the whole human being was holy.
However, rebelling against God
at the devil’s instigation
and by their own free will,
they deprived themselves of these outstanding gifts.
Rather, in their place they brought upon themselves
blindness, terrible darkness, futility, and distortion of judgment in their minds;
perversity, defiance, and hardness in their hearts and wills;
and finally impurity in all their emotions.
Summary
The book of Romans is the clearest exposition of Christian doctrine in the Bible. Paul begins the letter with the triumphant claim that the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). The word gospel simple means good news. But the first two and a half chapters of Romans seems like anything but good news.
Just two verses after announcing the gospel as the power of God that brings salvation, Paul shifts gears. Before he writes any more about salvation, he begins with the cold, ugly truth, announcing that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against the all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness (Romans 1:18).
Paul goes on in that first chapter to describe the depravity of Gentiles, using the threefold phrase so God gave them over to sinful desires, shameful lusts, and a depraved mind as a result of the Gentiles' ongoing efforts to suppress the truth.
People like us - good 'church people,' that is - get pretty pumped up reading this part. We cheer Paul on, in a sense, glad to see somebody's finally describing the sinful citizens of the world as it really is. We shake our heads at their ever increasing wickedness and read this passage as a warning to our children not to be like the world.
But then the second chapter comes. Paul turns his attention away from the godless throngs and looks people like us squarely in the eye, writing, You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment upon someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you're condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things.
Dig Deeper
As we come to grips over the next few weeks with the reality of what the Canons refer to as Total Depravity, it's critical that we understand exactly what's meant by these words. The word total doesn't mean that as sinners we're as wicked as what we can possibly be. Rather, it refers to the ubiquitous nature of sin - there's no aspect of creation undamaged by it. It's all over, even staining 'good church people' like us.
Our passage today from the beginning of Romans 3 is a good example of what the word depravity means. Simply put, as sinners we've been deprived of the goodness of the God in whose image we've been created. Again, by God's grace, many vestiges of His goodness still is at work, even in people who don't know Him, and as regenerated Christians, we ought to display more and more of His goodness as the Spirit continues His work of sanctification.
But notice how Paul stitches together so much scripture as he weaves such an ugly, yet realistic picture of humanity: no one righteous... no one who understands... our throats are open graves... our tongues tongues practice deceit... our mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Notice how much our mind and mouth are predominantly the source of our sin! Ultimately, on our own there is no fear of God before our eyes.
Neither Paul nor the Canons of Dordt catalog these ugly passages simply to rub our faces in the smelly reality we've plunged ourselves in. Quite the opposite. It's only when the Spirit opens our eyes to see and understand the totality of our depravity that we are repulsed by it and, as we'll learn in a couple of months, will we be irresistibly drawn to the grace God offers.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who's good and perfect image we've been created in;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll recognize the ugly indwelling depravity in your life and that God's grace will strengthen you to put it to death;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Philippians 3
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