Worthless: A Survey of Romans 3:9-20

Morally, mankind is worthless! That is the prosecution’s case. Paul, the lead prosecutor, has already amassed a dizzying array of evidence – Gentiles are pagan perverts (1:18-32), while Jews are heady hypocrites (2:1-29). Lest anyone has missed the obvious, Paul now concludes with a damning review: “None is righteous.”

The Indictment (3:9)

Knowing that the Jewish ‘defense attorney’ is most likely to attempt a rebuttal, Paul heads it off from the beginning: “Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all.” It is possible that this is a question about moral advantage. In the first verse of this chapter, Paul conceded that Jews possess benefits. Now, however, he clarifies forcefully that those benefits bring no moral superiority – Jews have no more righteousness than pagans.

Paul is hardly the judge in the case – he is simply the prosecuting attorney. He admits as much when he says that ‘we’ (a nod to his apostolic coworkers, as well as the Christian community everywhere) ‘have already charged.’ God is the ultimate judge, but Paul is presenting the case. Of course, it’s not that God needs a prosecuting attorney, in order to hear the case. God’s justice is already offended. Rather, Paul makes the case so that we would be convinced – he wants us to understand how much we need the gospel, so that we are salivating for the moment when he presents it.

“All…are under sin.” Sin is presented as a hostile power, and human beings resemble subjects trapped in servitude. None are outside this realm, and so all require salvation. 

Biblical Quotations (3:10-18)

Now the apostle pours out a torrent of scriptural support for this indictment. His summary of the case, he implies, is exactly in line with what God’s word already says. He isn’t making this up.

The quotations come from the Septuagint version, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. For the most part, Paul cites the texts accurately, but from time to time he changes the wording in minor ways. His point is not to give an exact citation of Scripture – just to overwhelm the reader with the clarity, intensity, and weightiness of God’s condemnation of mankind.

The bold opener (‘None is righteous, no, not one’) may be a loose paraphrase of Solomon’s condemnation in Ecclesiastes 7:20. From there, Paul transitions to David’s indictment in Psalm 14:2-3. No one understands. This means that though many have a theoretical knowledge of God, no one actually uses that knowledge to live reasonable lives. No one seeks for God. This means that even though many people may be on spiritual quests, they are in it for themselves – no one is genuinely seeking God on his own. They are perverted (‘turned aside’) and morally bankrupt (‘worthless’). Moral ‘goodness’ is not a quality that even one of them possesses.

The Davidic diatribe continues in verses 13-14, as Paul quotes from Psalm 5:9, 140:3, and 10:7. In these verses, Paul focuses on the way that humans use their speech to defile what is holy and destroy others. The human throat resembles an open grave, which makes no effort to hide the decomposing filth within. Humans use their tongues in order to deceive others for their own advantage. Human lips may seem harmless, but their destructive capacity rivals that of poisonous snakes. The two defining aspects of human speech are its ‘curses’ (maledictions and imprecations against others) and ‘bitterness’ (everything that is sharp, harsh, acrid, and unpleasant).

Paul doesn’t try to provide shade or nuance in his description. Instead, he purposefully refers to the singular ‘throat’ and the singular ‘mouth’ that define humans. By doing so, he emphasizes that all humans are monotonously similar in the way they speak. Both Jewish and gentile speech is boringly predictable in its patterns of sinfulness.

In the following three verses (15-17), Paul changes his focus from the mouth to the feet, pointing out the path of life on which humans run. At this point he quotes from Isaiah 59:7-8. The lifestyle of humans is characterized by violent antagonism and a readiness to use brutality to accomplish their own ends. They leave behind a trail of destruction and misery – often in the lives and relationships of other people. The ‘way of peace,’ however, and a lifestyle characterized by tranquil relationships, is something that they ‘have not known.’ It is like a foreign language, which they do not really know how to speak, even if they tried.

The last quotation, which explains everything that comes before, draws from Psalm 36:1. Humans lack the single most important element of a moral life: the fear of God. A reverent dread of God’s divine majesty and strict justice is the essential quality for righteousness. The person who lives life with this coloring (having it ‘before their eyes’) will never practice the vices that Paul just outlined. Unfortunately, ‘fear of God’ is not a quality of humans in their natural state.

Before moving on, it’s worthwhile to consider Paul’s statements, since they fly in the face of human reasoning. Are we really that bad? Can we really do no good? What about all the nice people, the kind people, the good people that we know? How can Paul dismiss them all so blithely?

Paul’s indictment covers these people, too. He is aware of how broad his indictment is, and he isn’t willing to give an inch to the defense. Paul is pulling back the curtain, revealing the inner human heart. While it is true that there are people who have been genuinely transformed by Jesus Christ (Romans 6:17-18), even these people can’t point to their own innate goodness. God is the one who accomplishes this transformation. For those without a relationship with God through Christ, the indictment holds true: dig deep enough and you will discover that every human is this depraved. Even our so-called ‘good deeds’ are not ultimately enough to make God pleased. The best that humanity can do is still tainted by depravity. Even the most selfless deed is still ‘worthless.’ No one can argue that they are ‘good’ by God’s standard.

The Defense Silenced (3:19-20)

The purpose of this prosecution is to leave each defendant speechless. There can be no ‘yes, but…’, no ‘it’s okay because…’, no ‘you don’t understand…’ God’s own word attests that humanity has no excuses, no alibis, no defense. The only appropriate response is confession of guilt: “I am fully guilty and justly worthy of the penalty.” Anything more than this comes from human pride and arrogance.

Paul refers to the Jewish law, which he has already quoted from. He points out that “whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law.” Paul isn’t claiming that all humans are under law – he has already expressed that some are ‘under the law’ and some are ‘without the law’ (2:12). By pointing out that the law speaks only to those who are under it, is Paul saying that some aren’t left speechless? Could it be that there’s a defense for those who never had the law?

Not at all. As Schreiner (p. 175) notes, “The answer is not that difficult. If the Jews, who had the privilege of being God’s covenant and elect people, couldn’t keep the law, then it follows that no one can, including the gentiles.”

Even if the law isn’t necessary to leave every person speechless before God’s tribunal, it does have a beneficial effect. It is an effect which Paul will develop later in detail. At present, he is content to mention it: “through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Knowing what is right (having the law) isn’t enough to do what is right (the works of law), nor does it lead to legal innocence (being justified). But the law shows sinners how far their works deviate from God’s righteous standard. And recognizing this chasm helps us to understand how much we need the gospel.

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