In these verses Paul insists that the whole world, whether Jews or
Gentiles, are all equally under sin. Through this dialogue, he concluded with
one more reason why Jews have the advantage. He told them in verses 19-20 that,
“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under
the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of
the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” Paul shows us that though the Law
cannot save, it made the Jews conscious and aware of their sin nature. This is
the advantage. They at least know that they are sinners because of the dynamics
of the sin nature.
Paul began by establishing that Jews or Gentiles
are all alike, under the dominion of sin. The word is sin and not sins. It’s
not the wrong acts that one commits that made him or her a sinner, it’s the
dynamic of sin in each person that made each one a sinner. Hence, as a result, whether
Jew or Gentile, all are sinners and totally depraved. Paul was not saying that
everyone is all the time in that totally depraved condition. He was just saying
that because we are under the dominion and power of sin, we will always have room
in our life to commit sinful acts. In other words, outside of Christ, the root
of everybody’s life is the sin nature, hence the fruit that would be produced
would be the sinful acts.
Stringing together a slew of Old Testament Scriptures, Paul proves the
depravity of man. He began by showing the depravity of character, then the
depravity of conduct before he gave us the cause of the depravity. First concerning
character, he said in verse 10 that there is no one righteous. Then he added
there words - “not even one.” This is to show that there is no exception. This
is all inclusive. Everyone in the human race is unrighteous. No one has kept
the righteous standard of God, seen in Christ, to the very end. Then in verse
11, there is no one who understands. No one by his own nature would want to
know God. The word seek refers to an earnest search, one that would stop at
nothing till the object is found. In this case the object is God. In verse 12, he goes on to say that “All have
turned aside, together they have become useless.” Every human in the sinful
state cannot fulfill the purpose of God. They do not do good works
consistently. Good works are actions that are consistently aligned with God’s
commandment, with the committed purpose of honoring Him.
Second, concerning conduct, Paul first turned to talk about man’s
depraved speech. Here is a disgusting and deplorable picture of man’s speech. He
tells us that “Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they keep
deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips.”; “whose mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness.” In other words, the speech of an un-regenerate is like the foul
smell coming from an open grave. It is not only filthy but also deceptive. And
it is as deadly as the bite of a poisonous snake. Not only would an
unregenerate engage in deplorable speech, he would also be quick to engage in
violence and cause ruin to lives. Verses 15-17 put it this way, “Their feet are
swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their paths.” Finally in verse 18, Paul reveals the cause
for all the deplorable speech and action. He said it’s because, “There is no
fear of God before their eyes.” They have left God out of their thought and
totally left him out of their equation. Man is totally depraved.
The advantage of the Jews as well as us believers, is the fact that
God’s Word has declared our condition and our ultimate end. That’s an advantage
in the sense that if we are sensitive to its revelation we will know the condition
of our life and become conscious of our sin. Then and then only will we turn to
God. Let’s not live in deception! Let’s be a seeker of God that we may
understand and worship Him!
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