Romans 3:9-20 - Freed From Sin’s Dominion
- Joshua Carpenter
- Jul 16
- 4 min read
Thanks be to God for freeing us from sin’s dominion!
Romans 3:9–20 (NIV)
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.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
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.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Canons of Dordt
Article 5: The Inadequacy of the Law
What is true of the light of nature is true also of the Ten Commandments
given by God through Moses
specifically to the Jews.
For humans cannot obtain saving grace through the Decalogue, because,
although it does expose the magnitude of their sin
and increasingly convict them of their guilt,
yet it does not offer a remedy or enable them to escape from human misery,
and, indeed, weakened as it is by the flesh, leaves the offender under the curse.
Summary
Having previously shown how neither Gentiles nor Jews are righteous because they either suppress the truth or break the law and condemn themselves, Paul now asks if there is any difference, then, between Jews and Gentiles. Paul answers his own question saying, no, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin….
As teachers do to help their students learn, apply, and understand what they are trying to get across, Paul goes on to list numerous examples of ways people are held under the power of sin, showing mankind’s total depravity. Commentator Douglas J. Moo sums up what Paul is getting at here when he writes: “This is Paul’s, and the Bible’s, analysis of the human predicament: People, by nature, are addicted to sin. They are imprisoned under it, unable to free themselves by anything they can do." This principle is echoed in here the Canons: The Law does not offer a remedy or enable him to escape from his misery…
Then, just like we read yesterday in Galatians, Paul reminds us at the close of this passage: 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.
Paul points out here what we’re going to explore more tomorrow: how the law is inadequate to save, how it can only bring about a knowledge of our sin and misery. This is what the Reformed tradition calls the first use of the Law: the Law’s convicting us of our sin.
Dig Deeper
A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Independence Day, remembering and celebrating the freedom that we have as a nation. The Lord has immensely blessed us with the freedom to be able to worship Him, to freely read His Word, for which we should give Him our humble thanks and praise. We can so easily take it for granted.
As we mentioned earlier, apart from Christ, we were held as slaves under sin's power. Sin was our master, and, on our own, we had no hope of escaping. But thanks be to God for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the freedom that He graciously won for us in His perfect life, death on the cross, and resurrection from the grave, which He imparts to us as believers, and is now our master!
As you go about the rest of your day, the rest of the week ahead, and throughout your life, thank the Lord every day for freeing you from sin’s power in order to walk in newness of life!
We are still working on shedding what is of the old self, as Paul mentions in his letter to the Ephesians, and so we still struggle with indwelling sin. May we ever ask Him to help mold and shape us to be more like Christ, even as we praise Him for saving, redeeming us from sin's power, and bringing us into the Kingdom of His marvelous light!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, to whom the whole world will be held accountable;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to continue to mold and shape you to be less like your sinful nature and more like Christ;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Luke 14
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