Romans: All Have Turned Away

"What advantage then is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not al 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." But 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.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" Why not say – as we are being slanderously reported as saying, as some claim that we say "Let us do evil that good may result?" Their condemnation is deserved. 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. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:1-18)

In Paul's persuading the Christian Jews at Rome of their unrighteousness before God, he references many scriptures, which is evident to us by his words "as it is written":

Psalm 51:4 "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge." (Speaking of God's truthfulness and justice when He speaks and judges us.)

Psalm 14:1-3 "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one."

Psalm 53:1-3 [This is word for word identical to what Psalm 14:1-3 says]

Ecclesiastes 7:20 "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins."

Psalm 5:9 "Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit."

Psalm 140:3 "They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on their lips."

Psalm 10:7 "[The wicked man's] mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue."

Isaiah 59:7-8 "Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways."

Psalm 36:1 "An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: there is no fear of God before his eyes."

Paul does all of this to confirm this one statement: "Jews and Gentiles alike are ALL under sin." In other words, we are equals in sin. We have a common starting point in SIN. Neither of us has an advantage in righteousness, even though the Jews DO have the benefit of having been those to whom God entrusted His law and His Word (through the holy scriptures), singling them out from all the peoples on the earth, to be the witnesses and bearers of His goodness, mercy, AND justice. Yet that signified God's goodness towards THEM, not THEIR goodness towards God…for NONE are good, NONE are righteous, ALL have turned away from God.

Fortunately, God recognized this in man, before man recognized it in himself. Thus, God sent His Son…to BE man's righteousness when man could not do so himself. All man has to do now is admit his sin. Oh…but "there's the rub!" as Shakespeare would say. Pride keeps man from being humble enough to admit his failure to be righteous before God; intellect keeps him above the foolishness of the simple choice of trusting in Jesus Christ to be his righteousness instead.

It's that simple.