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Sermon #3045

There is None Righteous

A Sermon on Romans 3:9-20

Originally preached Jan. 25, 1957

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Scripture

Romans 3:9-20 ESV KJV
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, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they …

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Sermon Description

Is there anyone without sin? What characterizes human nature apart from God? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones outlines Romans 3:9¬-20 as Paul explains human characteristics when they are apart from God. First, there is none righteous apart from God, as He is the only way to salvation. No one fully understands spiritual truth or divine things because their mind has only a secular nature. They lack much understanding when it comes to sin, the wrath of God, true happiness, and their own eternal understanding. Humanity is so lost in its understanding that it naturally strays from God. Dr. Lloyd-Jones illustrates how these natural inclinations are manifested in human behavior, where sin starts in the heart and then to progresses to mouths and feet. While human instinct is to run from God, Dr. Lloyd-Jones shows the absolute necessity of God’s way of salvation.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The apostle Paul gives a list of scriptural quotations to prove that all people, Jews and Gentiles, are under sin.
  2. The list of quotations can be divided into three main sections: verses 10-12, verses 13-17, and verse 18.
  3. Verses 10-12 give a general description of the actual state of people under sin.
  4. Verse 10: "There is none righteous, no, not one." All people lack original righteousness and the righteousness God demands.
  5. Verse 11: "There is none that understandeth." No one has spiritual understanding or wisdom. They lack understanding of God, themselves, sin, salvation, happiness, and eternity.
  6. Verse 12: "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." As a result of their state, their conduct and behavior is affected. They have all turned from God's way. They are worthless and useless to God. None do good in God's sight.
  7. Verses 13-17 give a particular description of the manifestations of sin in people's lives.
  8. Verses 13-14 describe sin in words. "Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." Their speech is foul, deceitful, venomous, and bitter.
  9. Verses 15-17 describe sin in deeds. "Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known." They are prone to violence and bloodshed. Sin leads to destruction and misery. They do not know the way of peace.
  10. Verse 18 gives the explanation for this condition: "There is no fear of God before their eyes." They have no reverence or awe of God.

Sermon Q&A

Understanding Sin and Humanity in Romans 3: Questions from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Sermon

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones teach about humanity's lack of understanding according to Romans 3:11?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, when Romans says "there is none that understandeth," it means that all humans lack spiritual understanding. While people may have secular understanding in areas like science, art, politics, or business, they are completely lacking in spiritual understanding. This includes:

  • No understanding of the truth about God
  • No understanding of their own spiritual nature
  • No understanding of sin and their sinful condition
  • No understanding of God's way of salvation
  • No understanding of true happiness
  • No understanding of their eternal destiny

Dr. Lloyd-Jones states, "Men in sin, men under sin, lacks an understanding of himself, of his own nature, of his spiritual character. He is content to regard himself as an animal, and he even boasts of that. He dislikes this biblical account of himself as a living soul."

What does it mean that "there is none that seeketh after God" in the sermon?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that "seeking after God" means having: - A desire for God - A desire to know God - A desire to enjoy God - A desire to worship God and seek Him in prayer - A seeking to know the will of God in obedience

The sermon emphasizes that no person by nature seeks God in this way. Lloyd-Jones clarifies: "To have some kind of intellectual interest in the possibility of God or the being of God is not to seek God. To seek God doesn't just mean that you mechanically say your prayers."

He states emphatically that "there has never been a single person who has sought God" naturally, and if anyone is seeking God now, it's only because "God has first sought us."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the statement "they are together become unprofitable"?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that "unprofitable" means humans have become worthless from God's perspective. He uses the graphic illustration from the original Greek, comparing humanity to milk that has gone sour:

"The word that he used here to bring out this idea of unprofitableness is the word that was used from milk when it had gone sour... You don't like sour milk in your tea, so you throw it down the drain. Worthless."

While acknowledging that people may do good things from a secular perspective, Lloyd-Jones insists that from God's standpoint, every person "apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ is entirely without goodness and completely unprofitable." He cites biblical references that compare human righteousness to "filthy rags" and "dung and refuse."

What are the manifestations of sin in words according to the sermon?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies several manifestations of sin in human speech from Romans 3:13-14:

  1. "Their throat is an open sepulchre" - Like the stench of a recently opened grave, the speech that comes from human hearts is foul and offensive.

  2. "With their tongues they have used deceit" - Humans speak falsehoods, flatteries, and lies. They pretend to be pleased to see people when they're not, speaking smoothly but insincerely.

  3. "The poison of asps is under their lips" - Like the venom sac of a snake, hidden poison is concealed behind smooth speech. This can manifest in entertainment that seems wonderful but poisons minds, or in false teaching that sounds pleasant but leads to spiritual destruction.

  4. "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" - While not everyone openly curses, all have this tendency within them, especially when off guard or when things go wrong.

Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones insist that this biblical description of humanity applies to everyone without exception?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones repeatedly emphasizes the universality of this description because:

  1. The text itself repeatedly uses phrases like "none," "not one," and "all" to show there are no exceptions.

  2. He believes accepting this diagnosis is essential to accepting salvation: "If you do not accept this description of yourself, apart from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, well, there's no need to argue about it. You're just not a Christian."

  3. This understanding of universal sin explains why Christ's salvation is necessary: "It's this sort of thing that makes the gospel of Christ so glorious. It's this sort of thing that necessitated the incarnation and the death upon the cross."

  4. No one is excluded from this condition: "What we have been going through in detail is nothing but the simple, literal, stark truth of every single one of us by nature. No, you're not an exception, my friend."

Lloyd-Jones concludes that this stark realization of our true condition is what drives us to seek salvation in Christ: "No men will look for it or clutch at it, except the men who have seen his terrifying need of it."

The Book of Romans

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.