ROMANS 3:9-13 THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, NO, NOT ONE

Romans 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." 13 "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips";

 V9 could refer to the Jews being better than the Gentiles or the Christians being better than the unsaved.  But we are no better than the unsaved because, but for the Grace of God we would be in the same state and be headed for hell for eternity.

Jews and Greeks are all under sin- this word under means to be in the power of or under the authority of sin. Until we are saved we are completely enslaved and dominated by sin.

V10-12 are quoted from several OT texts:

Verses #10-12 come from #Ps 14:1-3, and 53:1-3. The first half of #13 from #Ps 5:9, the second half from #Ps 140:3; verse #14 from #Ps 10:7; #15-17 from part of #Isa 59:7; verse #18 from #Ps 35:1.

Paul is quoting verses 10-18 from memory, so they are not exact quotations of the verses. He is using a common technique the Jewish Rabbis used called stringing pearls.

4 times in v 10-18 Paul says there is none, God is including everyone in these passages, twice he says no, not one and then lastly he says there is no fear of God

Paul is going to describe in verses 10-18 the Wickedness of the character, the tongue and the conduct of man.

V10 As it is written: This is a common introduction to a quotation of OT verses and it also implies their divine authority.

1.    Paul now talks about the Wickedness of the character of man

None is righteous: Man is incapable of doing that which is right in the sight of God

Ps 14:1The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. 2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3 they have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, No, not one.

Ps 14:2 clearly implies that all false religions are man's attempts to escape the true God

V11 There is none who understands:

1Corinth 2; 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Our natural tendency is to seek our own interests

Phil 2:21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.

But our only hope is for God to seek after us, because it is only a result of God seeking us that anyone seeks him

John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

If men really understood how bad our sin is, how Holy our God is, what the difference between heaven and hell are, and at what cost God provided our salvation we would be in a hurry to be saved

V12 Turned aside: this word basically means to lean in the wrong direction, it was used of a soldier who deserted in a fight.

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

2.    Next we see the Wickedness of the tongue of man in v 13-14

V13 This expresses the filth of human speech and the rottenness that comes from within as a grave is sealed to keep the stench or smell in.

They have practiced deceit: They lie and cheat and show themselves to be sons of the devil who is the father of all lies

John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

The poison of asps: They lie about their neighbors and ruin their good names

Asps are small and so is the tongue, yet they cause much harm to those who feel their bite