“…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 sepulchre;
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:
The way of peace have they not known:
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
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” (Romans 3:10-20).
We have a true likeness as revealed in the Bible. Consider our text, and then consider man’s character. It is overwhelmingly negative. It is depressing and seems hopeless. None… none … none.
Evil companions abound―wrong-doers are everywhere; there is a dearth of right-doers. Immediately following the declaration of the absence of the godly, we see Paul’s language shift from ‘none’ to ‘they.’ Now those lying dead upon the field in trespasses of sin are referred to as ‘they.’ Their numbers have amalgamated … unified into clusters and groups.
Here is the group of those who have gone out of the way (Jesus is the way) and have become worthless. They are said to be totally unprofitable. And what about those with poison under their tongues? But wait! Weren’t they a part of the first group who had gone out of the way? And, now, aren’t those poison-tongue folks from the unprofitable group. Oh, my! The characteristics of sin cross over and blend together continuing the Adamic nature across all peoples of all cultures, races and ethnic origins.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The long, clear, convincing argument to prove man’s ruin draws to a close. Here we have God’s portrait of fallen man. In harmony with the whole of Scripture, character is dealt with before conduct, and speech before actions. The beauty of God’s nature shines through for all of us regardless of the cross-over sins that leave our vision sometimes blurred. The song-writer Timothy Freeman presented God’s case for every one that believes in Jesus Christ for a new life. Listen:
He didn’t leave me the way that He found me He didn’t leave me to die in my sins But He left me His holy spirit, to live within He left me a new life in Him
From my sin, He gave me freedom, from my chains, He set me free He took out the old things, that I didn’t need I’ve a new heart, and a new mind, and a new song to sing All because, He didn’t leave me the way He found me
Francis Mason
Pastor Mason