Castlebar Christian Fellowship

"We all went to sea in a Sieve, we did, In a Sieve we all went to sea" (With apologies to Edward Lear)

Reading: Romans 3:1-20.
God's Faithfulness
1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?
4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:
So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.

5But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)
6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?
7 Someone might argue, If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?
8 Why not say- as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say- Let us do evil that good may result? Their condemnation is deserved.

No-one Is Righteous
9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
10 As it is written:
There is no-one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no-one who understands, 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 practise 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.

19Now 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 his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.


Introduction:
First I'll recap very briefly on where we were last time. Paul has just examined some of the things that the Jews greatly prized and thought central to their salvation. (Namely the Law [of Moses] and the rite of circumcision. Romans 2:17-29) As Paul reminds them these things are very important but if they are relied upon to gain or maintain a relationship with God they prove to be as flimsy as a house of cards.
Though the Jews had the Law, in practice they still broke it and though they had the outward sign of circumcision they often failed to have the inner heart reality that it signified.

These verses we read today are a bit like a T.V drama set in an American Court room. The lawyer keeps jumping up and shouting objection! Some of the objections sound reasonable enough and some sound plain O.T.T (Over the top!) However in this courtroom scene there is also a verdict, when its time for everybody to shut up and be silent. Guilty as charged!

Some of the issues Paul addressed were bound to raise defensive questions for his audience and in today's reading we see a sort of tit-for-tat argument going on. The questions are posed by an imaginary speaker but they no doubt reflect Paul's twenty years of experience in proclaiming the gospel and anticipate the real questions his audience often had.
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1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
When Paul presents this first question you'd most likely expect he'd say, in the light of all that he had just said regarding the Law and circumcision, that there wasn't much value in these things at all.
Instead he positively exclaims, V2 Much in every way!
First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. The Jews were the custodians of God's written word. Psalm 147:19-20 He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his laws and decrees to Israel.
20 He has done this for no other nation;
they do not know his laws.


They were "put in charge of writing down and caring for God's revelation, these Holy Scriptures." (E. Peterson)
Paul places a very high value on the word of God.
In verse 3 we meet with another question,
V3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? (ESV) Often in the history of God's people, they proved unfaithful. It could be questioned that if people failed to keep their side of the covenant, would God also choose to opt out! Would he stop being faithful?
The reply comes back,
V4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. God is true! "Here it stands for complete reliability. God is to be accounted thoroughly reliable, whatever the consequences when we come to people." (L. Morris). Paul quotes from Psalm 51, the prayer of confession and sorrow when David owned up to his sin with Bathsheba. David takes full responsibility for his sin. He admits that he had sinned against God. He recognises that God is just when he punishes sin. Even though David had been unfaithful, God came through for him in the end and forgave him.
God always wins the verdict. He is always right.

When we think of God's faithfulness we should not forget he is faithful and reliable regarding every aspect of his being. As somebody put it, "Divine faithfulness is a priceless comfort for the faithful, an earnest warning for those in danger of becoming unfaithful, and a harbinger of doom for those who continue to be untrustworthy." (William Hendriksen)
Look at verses 5-8,
5But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)
6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?
7 Someone might argue, If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?
8 Why not say- as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say- Let us do evil that good may result? Their condemnation is deserved.
Look at man's ability to twist things and reach such wrong and self-serving conclusions. Paul is picturing people who are basically saying, 'My sins do God a favour!' "My falsehood emphasizes God's truth. My darkness emphasizes His brightness. My sin causes Him to be glorified. The actual outcome of my sin is - God's glory! Surely he cannot condemn that which leads to such an outcome!" (Stuart Olyott)
As somebody put it, "We sinners display incredible ingenuity as we try to justify ourselves." (Leon Morris)

Paul from chapter 1:18 to 3:8 goes into great detail about the sinfulness of mankind. He shows the terrible condition of the Gentile world and then he turns his attention to the world of the Jews. He doesn't leave a stone unturned. He's totally relentless in his portrayal of the human plight we're in. He doesn't let up for one minute. It's like as if Paul was a pathologist carrying out an autopsy. He's so thorough in his dissection that you have to be convinced at the end of the day that this corpse lying before you had a fatal disease. In this case the deadly disease is sin. Whether you're a Jew or a pagan Gentile, whether you're religious or simply trying to follow your conscience we all have the same basic disease and the prognosis is not good unless we avail of God's remedy in Christ. (The Good News)


V9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! Who is the we that Paul is referring to?
In V1 he is clearly referring to the Jews, What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
He has already made the point that the Jews have no advantage in the sense that their heritage makes them any closer to God. They are just as needy before God as are the Gentiles. (Paul does however outline some of the advantages they do have here and later on in Romans 9:4-5)
It seems unlikely that Paul would be repeating the same sort of question again in v9, with reference to the Jews.
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? I believe that Paul is referring to himself and all his fellow Christians (See v8) and asking the question, "Are we better than all other people? Do we have a superior standing with God?" (Hendriksen)
What answer are we to give? Apart from the grace of God, which Paul soon expounds, the emphatic answer is no! v9 Not at all!
I thought I'd read again Eugene Peterson's definition. of sinner.
And I quote, "The word sinner is a theological designation. It is essential to insist on this. It is not a moralistic judgment. It is not a word that places humans somewhere along a continuum ranging from angel to ape, assessing them as relatively 'good' or 'bad'.
It designates humans in relation to God and sees them separated from God. Sinner means something is awry between humans and God. In that state people may be wicked, unhappy, anxious, and poor. Or, they may be virtuous, happy, and affluent. Those items are not part of the judgement. The theological fact is that humans are not close to God and are not serving God.
To see a person as sinner, then, is not to see him or her as hypocritical, disgusting, or evil. Most sinners are very nice people. To call a man a sinner is not a blast at his manners or his morals. It is a theological belief that the thing that matters most to him is forgiveness and grace." (Eugene Peterson "The Contemplative Pastor")

In V9. Paul says that All (are) under sin
"He is regarding sin as a tyrant ruler, so that sinners are 'under' it; they cannot break free." (Morris) All of humanity is in the 'sin bin' and don't get out of it apart from receiving God's help. One writer puts it like this, "For Paul, then, the human plight is not that people commit sins or even that they are in the habit of committing sins. The problem is that people are helpless prisoners of sin" (Douglas J. Moo)


To support his conclusion in v9 Paul builds up a picture by using a chain of Old Testament verses that are well chosen to get his point across. He quotes from the very word of God entrusted to them. This is the longest such series of quotes in the New Testament.
If this was a painting it would be a very bleak one. This is a stark wasteland. We see before us a sin-laden, guilt-burdened human race. "Of course, not every person in the world is the same. But this is the fruit which the human tree produces." (Olyott)
You can divide the verses into three sections. The first section vv10-12, describes the universality of sin. In other words it's an international problem that affects all of humanity. There is no-one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no-one who understands, 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.
Sin has darkened mans understanding. Of himself he is not motivated to seek God; he is wandering
In the following verses we see a selection of sins which are also particular symptoms of sin. They are tangible fruit from a much deeper hidden root. He illustrates our common sin condition not by something gross or extreme that people could say well I don't have a problem in that area.
First off all (vv13-14) he focuses in on sins of the mouth, our talk! (Proverbs and James spend a lot of time on that subject also) V13 Their throats (Lit. larynx) Which the dictionary reminds me is "the hollow muscular organ forming an air passage to the lungs and holding the vocal cords in humans and other mammals; the voice box."
Next he refers to sins of our walk! vv15-18
In v17 we're reminded, the way of peace they do not know.
Peace is a relational word. Sin is relational. The Message Bible puts it like this; (they) don't know the first thing about living with others.
In V18 we see the culminating symptom. No fear of God. Man is out of relationship with God.
After that list of verses it would have been easy for somebody to object and say that these quotations all refer to the wicked and not to the people of God. Paul reminds them V19 Now we know (Common knowledge!)that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law. (More exactly those who are 'in' the law.-Morris. "Those who are within the pale of the law." -NEB.) Those who are under the law are the Jews. That's what the first century listeners would have understood by this phrase.
They prided themselves on having possession of the Law. They felt it granted them some sort of immunity against judgment.
This declaration by Paul would have undermined the common assumption that they, the Jews, were safe and secure while the rest of the world came under the judgment of God. This string of Old Testament verses was a declaration regarding the whole world (including the Jews) not just the Gentile world. They were prefaced in v9 with the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
We're all in the same boat and we're doomed. (Apart from God's search and rescue!) This is not just that the boat has sprung a leak! It's more like, if I can adapt Edward Lear's poem,
We've all gone to sea in a sieve.

V19.b so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.


V20 Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

"It is the straight-edge of the Law that shows us how crooked we are." (J.B. Phillips)

As somebody put it, "The first true function of the law (whether of Moses or the prophets) is to unmask us and show us that we are sinners and that it is impossible to be accepted before God on the basis of keeping the law." (Alan F. Johnson)
V20 The Law is diagnostic; it reveals the true nature and extent of our sickness. (In contrast the Gospel is therapeutic. It heals our sickness and makes us well. However Paul hasn't got that far yet in his explanation.) This is Paul's detailed analysis of the bad news before he gets to the good news.
(You get a sneak preview if you read v21etc.)
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
(NLT)

Conclusion:

We need the Good News of Jesus and what he has done for us at the cross to set us free and make us into new people. Our only hope is Jesus. I like this quote,
IF OUR GREATEST NEED HAD BEEN INFORMATION,
GOD WOULD HAVE SENT US AN EDUCATOR.
IF OUR GREATEST NEED HAD BEEN TECHNOLOGY,
GOD WOULD HAVE SENT US A SCIENTIST..
IF OUR GREATEST NEED HAD BEEN MONEY,
GOD WOULD HAVE SENT US AN ECONOMIST.
IF OUR GREATEST NEED HAD BEEN PLEASURE,
GOD WOULD HAVE SENT US AN ENTERTAINER.
BUT OUR GREATEST NEED WAS FOR FORGIVENESS,
AND SO GOD SENT US A SAVIOUR.

(Pray)


Foot Notes:

V19 phrasso? (fras'-so)
To fence or inclose, that is, (specifically) to block up (figuratively to silence): - stop. 'Shut up'.

Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.