I have written this commentary/Bible Study based on Romans 3:10-18. It is meant to educate both the saved as well as the unsaved. But mostly it is to show those that don’t know Him why they need Him. I hope that you will be blessed by it. This commentary is written as part of the FaithfulBloggers Romans Road Writing Project.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is
none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their
tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not
known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
— Romans 3:10-18 KJV
These are very serious charges. The verdict: guilty. Who is the guilty party? All of
mankind. Who indicts us? God Himself
Man is corrupt. You can deny if you want. It doesn’t matter. The evidence is all around us. Don’t believe me? Turn on the news. Look at your neighbors. Look at your family. Take an honest look at yourself! We are a sin stained people.
The Word of God tells us that only Jesus Christ, who is also God, is good. There has never been nor will there ever be a perfect person other than Jesus Christ. It’s not possible. As humans we have a sin nature, and that nature will prevent us from ever being the good people we tell ourselves that we are. As good as you want to believe yourself to be God says that it just isn’t so. By nature we are wicked. No amount of good works can save you or make you good. Our ability to do good just makes us a sinful people that sometimes does good things.
Sin keeps us blind to the truth of our nature and who God truly is and our need for Him. The world doesn’t really care for God, so we don’t truly seek Him out. We don’t even understand who He is or why we need Him so why would we seek Him out? The world is unable to understand the character of God. Because of their spiritual blindness unsaved man is unable to see his need for God and His love for us.
Oh, people fall into all kinds of false religions all day long. Sure. But, they are only seeking head knowledge, not heart knowledge. They want to be seen as holy and spiritual. The truth is that they never really sought God out, the One True God, because if they did they’d have to come face to face with the truth about themselves. The truth being that we are full of sin and need to change, and that the only way to change is to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior.
We seek to do our own thing; go our own way. Instead of going right and doing the right thing we go left and walk down the wrong path. Even when we know the truth we do not always take heed. It is not in our nature to do the good and right thing.
deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
The words we speak are only a reflection of the things that are in our hearts. We use our mouths to speak such ugliness sometimes. We lie, and curse one another, argue. We use our mouths for hate, deceit and evil. We murder each other with our words. Many people have been destroyed emotionally by the hurtful things others had said to them. Others still have had reputations destroyed. Our tongues are small and yet powerful. We say that we are good, and yet we show no love for God, ourselves or others. Even our speech is corrupt. Like an open grave our hearts are rotten and we spew forth what is in our hearts out of our mouths.
We don’t always speak to others with love. We gossip, malign others, lie, curse. Our
mouths are full of filth. Many times we do not hesitate to speak in a heartless manner. Instead of speaking thoughtfully we speak thoughtlessly. Out of our mouths we show the ugliness that resides in our hearts.
People are often quick to do evil and slow to do what is right. Revenge. Murder. People are spiteful and hateful by nature. Tit for tat. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. If you have ever hated someone then you have held murder in your heart. Just the thought of murder is murder to God. People are generally at the ready to do wrong. If it weren’t against the law more violence and crimes would take place in the world because of the wickedness in our hearts. We are vengeful by nature. We have no value for each other. We have no true appreciation for life. Without restraints the world would be even more wicked because it is human nature to be destructive.
Misery and destruction is spread everywhere the unsaved person goes because that person has no peace. The saying “misery loves company” is rooted in truth. Misery does love company and the lost take it with them wherever they go. Anger, bitterness, animosity, violence. The destruction and misery of man is all around us. It is inherent. That is why man’s heart is so full of evil.
The wicked can not know or spread peace. Because man is not good and full of
wickedness, and quick to do all that is not right it is not possible for man to act peaceably. This is why we fight and have wars, and commit numerous other acts of violence, thoughtlessness, selfishness and carelessness. Peace does not live in us.
Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools
despise wisdom and instruction. “
Proverbs 1:7 explains it all! We want to follow our own way. We want to do our own thing. Because there is no fear of God the unsaved person could care less about following the ways of God. They think that they are wise, but they are truly foolish. They have no reverence. This is why man is as he is. Until man develops fear of the Lord he will remain ignorant.
I know a few people that claim to “believe in God” but they don’t want to live for Him. Belief in God alone is not enough. That’s just an acknowledgement that you believe that God exists. But belief is not knowing. Belief is not relationship. Belief is not reverential fear of God and His ways. Belief in God alone is no different than my believing that the sky is blue. That knowledge does not affect my life. That knowledge does not change me and make me new. If belief alone is all you have then you are still lost. You must put your faith and trust in the Lord. You must not only believe in Him, but choose Him. You must choose Christ!
We all need Jesus. Every single last one of us. Without the Lord we have nothing even if we have every material thing. Without Jesus we all lead empty lives of destruction, deceit, corruption and wickedness.
Only God can change us and make us new. Try as you might you can never change yourself. You have read the charges against you. You are guilty. There is no denying it and no way around it.
So what are you going to do? God is knocking on the heart of somebody reading this. I know He is. Some one is feeling convicted. You can walk away and hold on to your false sense of goodness, but that won’t save you or get you into Heaven.
No one is good enough. Not me. Not you. Only God is good. If you died right now you would not go to Heaven. You would go to Hell and it IS a real place. Your excuses can’t save you. You can not justify your way to God.
Romans 3: 19-20 says “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
We have all sinned before God. We have all broken every last one of His Commandments. Several of them have been mentioned here. The Words of God have been spoken. The truth of your true spiritual condition has been laid out before you. You can no longer live blindly. You now know the truth. Justifications can’t help you. Your mouth has been stopped. Your excuses are gone. To continue on as you have been is to knowingly continue on the path of destruction.
God doesn’t want any of us to go to Hell. He wants us all to come to Him and repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus. Jesus died for us so that by putting our faith and trust in Him we can have eternal life in Heaven. Without Christ Hell is the only place for us because God can not allow unrighteousness into His Holy Presence. Only through Jesus Christ can we be made right with God.
Jesus Himself tells us in John 3: 16 that “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. “
God sent Jesus to us to save us. Don’t try to clean yourself up first. You can’t. Only God can cleanse us and change us and make us new. Don’t wait until tomorrow to accept this free gift of Salvation. Tomorrow may never come. Don’t wait to give your life to the Lord. Stop and do it now.
Romans 10: 9-10 says “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Just say a simple prayer. It needn’t be pretty or fancy. Let it come from your heart. It must be real. You can’t fake it. It must be true. An empty confession of faith will not help you. You must truly believe the words that you are about to speak. Just tell Him that you know you are a sinner, and that you repent of your sins. Tell God that you believe that Jesus died for you, was buried and rose from the dead. Tell Him that you are giving your life to Jesus and that you invite Him into your life to be your Lord and Savior.
That’s it. Now buy a Bible. I recommend the KJV (King James Bible). If you can’t afford one right now there are numerous free online Bibles. Read it daily. Speak to God in prayer daily. Find a good Bible believing Christ-centered church and worship and have fellowship with other believers. Be baptized. Serve in some capacity with others
in your church. And tell others about Christ!
God bless you,
Haneefah Turner
