For two years of high school, I went to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s. This school is well known for its athletic prowess. For over 100 years, the school has had some of the best teams in the state of Michigan. I will never forget how happy I was to make the JV basketball team my sophomore year. We had what we thought would be a great team, with many of us looking toward the day we would get to play on the varsity team. We thought that we were better than everybody else and did not plan on losing one game all season. Then, in the second game of the season, we played Notre Dame Prep and lost by two on the final play of the game. I can always say that I made history at that high school; as it turned out, we were the first team in the 100-plus-year history of that school to lose to Notre Dame Prep in any sport. We thought we were better than them. It turns out we were exactly the same, but we did not know it at the time. Many of us have been in this position before, we think we are better than the competition, smarter than the test, or overqualified for the job, only to find out the hard way that we are not.
1. Share a time that you have had a situation like this happen to you.
Romans 3:9 says, “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.”
2. How did the Jewish people view themselves compared to the Gentiles?
We see Paul trying to solidify the truth that the Jewish people were no better off spiritually than the Gentiles. The Jewish people continued to view themselves as God’s chosen people instead of recognizing that they were sinners in need of a Savior in the exact same way that the rest of the world was. Sin is an everybody problem. It is something that a pastor needs saving from as much as the person locked up in a maximum security prison. As believers, we first have to look at our own hearts and make sure that we do not judge ourselves as being better than others based on where they are spiritually.
Romans 12:3 says, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
3. Do you struggle with judging the world for their sin? How can this verse help you with that?
As Christians, when God looks at us, He no longer sees our sins, but instead, He sees us as forgiven by Jesus Christ Himself taking our sins upon Him on the cross. I absolutely love Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Each person is just one decision of giving their life to Jesus Christ away from being viewed as saved and forgiven in God’s eyes, just in the same way that He sees us. This should change the way we view those who do not believe in Jesus. Yet, as Paul says, “All, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.”
4. How does this change your perspective on the struggle of sin in your life and the lives of others?
Paul then continues in Romans chapter 3 to help his audience understand just how serious sin should be taken. To illustrate his point, he goes on to quote the Old Testament to his Jewish listeners, knowing that these are Scriptures they would have been familiar with.
Romans 3:10-18 says, “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”
5. What do you think it means to be “righteous” in God’s eyes? Can anyone truly be righteous on their own?
6. In verses 11-12, it says no one seeks God or does good on their own. How does this passage challenge the common idea that people are naturally good or can find God on their own?
The struggle for the Jewish people, and still a common struggle with people today, is the belief that they are “good enough” to be righteous, that we can be viewed as good in the eyes of God based on what we do. The Jewish people thought that if they just followed the Law, they could achieve the relationship with God that they desired. This is a trap that we must ask the Lord to protect us from. Scripture clearly tells us that no one is righteous, no one seeks for God, no one does good. Paul is hammering home the point that sin is serious and that we absolutely need Jesus to deal with this problem.
7. Do you find yourself trying to do enough “good” to cover your sins from God?
8. What stands out to you about verses 13-18?
We see that sin affects absolutely every aspect of our lives. This is the absolute truth of all of our lives without Jesus Christ redeeming it. Our throats, tongues, lips, mouth, feet, and eyes all are naturally bent to sin. Verses 13-18 describe who we are before finding our salvation in Jesus Christ. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can we keep ourselves from continuing to sin in these ways. With Christ, our speech can be glorifying, our hands can work for His Kingdom, our feet can walk in His ways, and our eyes can see the glory of God and fall at His feet and worship Him!
Romans 3:19-20 adds, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
9. Verse 19 talks about the Law silencing every mouth and holding the whole world accountable to God. How does God’s Law reveal our guilt, and why is this necessary for understanding salvation?
My daughter is just about to turn one. Currently, her favorite game is us telling her no and her turning away and crawling as quickly as she can away from us. She already has an understanding of what is right and wrong, and she already has the natural tendency to be sinful and disobey. We see in Romans chapter 2 that the Law is written on our hearts. Naturally, people know that there is a right and wrong. We now see in Scripture what the expectations are of a believer, and that should constantly remind us how much we need a Savior. The Law was there to show people how impossible it was going to be for them to follow it, ultimately revealing their sin. As we learn more deeply the truths of Scripture, our understanding of how deeply we need Jesus should grow. Our sins cannot be forgiven by following the Law, but our sins and need for a Savior are magnified through it.
10. If everyone is guilty and under sin, as these verses state, what hope does the Gospel provide in light of this truth? How does this realization lead to a need for Jesus?
This section of Scripture feels like the darkness before the dawn. To truly understand the incredible gift that the Lord has offered us, we must first understand the full depth of depravity that we were born enslaved to. Sin is serious, so serious that Jesus Christ had to die to take the sin of the world upon Himself. He took our punishment so that we could live. This Scripture shows us clearly that all are guilty and all need to be saved. Thank you, Jesus, for making a way for that salvation.