Paul’s statements in Romans 3:10-12 sound stark because they are meant to be. He is not making an off‑hand remark about human behavior but delivering the climax of a carefully constructed courtroom argument that began in 1:18. After demonstrating that Gentiles are guilty (Rom 1:18-32), that moralists are guilty (Rom 2:1-16), and that Jews—despite possessing the Law—are also guilty (Rom 2:17-29), Paul raises the decisive question: “Are we Jews any better off?” His answer is an unqualified no. All humanity, without exception, stands “under sin.” To prove this, he cites Israel’s own Scriptures, especially Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, not as poetry to be admired but as legal testimony establishing universal guilt before God.
When Paul quotes, “There is none righteous, no, not one,” he is not describing human psychology or claiming that people are incapable of kindness, justice, or admirable behavior. His point is more precise: no one meets God’s standard of righteousness. The issue is not whether humans can do relatively good things in society but whether anyone, by nature, does the kind of good that satisfies God’s holy requirements. In that sense, Paul’s language must be absolute. If even one person could be righteous on their own, the entire argument of Romans 1-3 would collapse, and the necessity of the gospel would be undermined. Paul’s purpose is to show that the gospel is not a luxury for the especially sinful but a universal necessity for all.
The Old Testament context reinforces this reading. Psalm 14, which Paul quotes, describes humanity in its natural state—apart from God’s saving work—as turned away, corrupt, and not seeking God. Yet the same Psalm acknowledges that God has a people, “the generation of the righteous.” This means the Psalmist is not denying the existence of believers but describing humanity as humanity, left to itself. Paul uses the text in exactly that way. He is not denying that people can perform civil or moral good; he is asserting that no one, apart from grace, does God‑oriented, God‑pleasing righteousness. That is why he concludes the section by saying the Law’s purpose is to “silence every mouth” and make the whole world accountable to God.
In short, there is nothing in the text that suggests Paul intends his words in Romans 3:10-12 to be taken in a softer or more qualified sense. He means them exactly as they stand—but what he means is about righteousness before God, not about whether humans are capable of outwardly good actions. His goal is to bring every person, without exception, to the recognition that they cannot justify themselves and therefore must look to the righteousness God provides in Christ.
It seems to me that the biggest problem the Church has is biblical illiteracy. So many Christians are unfamiliar with deep theology that they are cast about by every changing wind of doctrine. Someone points out this passage and says, "See, the Bible is wrong because I know all sorts of good people." And we uncritically nod along because we haven't taken the time to read the context and understand what it means, not what we think it means.
ReplyDeleteI was in an adult class once at church when we were going over one of those sticky texts about "wives submit." One of the ladies piped up and said, "Sometimes I think Paul was a misogynist." I replied to the class, "I hope we keep in mind that God's Word is breathed out by God and not by a misogynist." I'm afraid she didn't come back.
DeleteDavid, I think we must remember that the believers with whom we interact are at various stages of spiritual maturity and growth--not only in their knowledge and grasp of the “deep theology” that you and I (and Stan) love but in their application of it to their hearts and lives. That renewing of the mind doesn’t happen overnight, right? (And then there are those dreaded “tares” in the church …. ) Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit continues to lead the biblically illiterate and the spiritually immature to deeper understanding of God’s Word, through good teaching, self-study, and weblogs like Winging It!
DeleteStan, that impresses me as a spiritually mature response to a spiritually immature comment! (And this is coming from a lady who “pipes up” a lot! :)
This is a clear and concise explanation of a very foundational teaching. If one doesn’t understand the lesson Paul is presenting here, they will not truly embrace the gospel of grace.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing your mention of “Gentiles,” “moralists,” and “[Law-possessing] Jews,” I was reminded of a book study I led many years ago (In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado) that featured those same groups of people (also in the context of Romans 1-3). The author classified the three groups as “hedonists” (who indulge in sin and disregard God), “judgmentalists” (who judge others’ sin in order to distract God from seeing their own sin), and “legalists” (who work to earn God’s approval). Elsewhere he calls them “the ungodly partygoer, the ungodly finger-pointer, and the ungodly pew-sitter” and “the Penthouse gang, the courthouse clan, and the church choir.” Lucado devotes a separate chapter to the mentality of each group: “Godless Living” (describing carnal people who live for temporal indulgences, independent of God), “Godless Judging” (depicting self-righteous people who feel they are superior to most other people and count on God “grading on a curve”), and “Godless Religion” (addressing religious or moral people who strive through their own effort to gain God’s approval).
We all fall into one (or more) of these aforementioned groups before God extends the gift of salvation to us, leading us to become grace-driven Christians. As you point out, members of these groups can “do good” by human standards (the third category of people excel at it, in fact), but it is not good enough by God’s standards. Paul is very convincingly revealing the Bad News before he clarifies the Good News (as I mentioned yesterday). To quote another book of mine, “[T]he Good News is not only for the ‘bad guys’ who don’t measure up. It’s for the ‘good guys’ who think they measure up, and for the ‘religious’ who are trying to measure up.” [From How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious by Fritz Ridenour]
I appreciate your plain writing on this “sticky text” as much as Paul’s clear teaching that I need Christ’s righteousness.
Dan, please, stop. Do you not see that your ongoing insults and attacks are the very thing that got you banned from here in the first place? When you first commented here years ago, we often disagreed, but we disagreed agreeably. You've made it an angry, contentious approach and I cannot allow in here what would offend my mother. That's just common courtesy.
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