Romans 3:9 – 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…
Welcome back, readers. In chapter three, Paul is arguing that Jews and Gentiles are equally sinful and both parties are guilty in God’s sight.
When Paul addressed the sin of the Gentiles in chapter one, he was able to write plainly and openly because the Gentiles were willing to acknowledge the truth of what he said. 
However, as we saw at the beginning of chapter two, Paul does not use that same strategy when he begins to address the sins of the Jews. Had he spoken plainly of their sin, corruption and guilt before God, the Jews would have become offended and enraged. They would have immediately torn Paul’s letter up and burned it.
In the case of the Jews, Paul must approach his subject carefully and with great skill, so his message has a chance to penetrate their hearts and minds. For example, at the beginning of chapter two, he addresses ‘everyone who judges’ without naming the Jews specifically. By the time the Jews figure out Paul is talking to them, they have already read and understood his point.
We see a continuation of that style of writing here in chapter three. Paul brings up and then refutes/removes any potential objections to his doctrine on the part of the Jews. He once again carefully navigates his topic in such a way that the Jews will be compelled to read his entire letter without immediately dismissing it.
GENERAL SUMMARY: Paul raises yet another possible objection by the Jews. Some of them might argue: ‘Are we not better than the Gentiles? We have all the outward privileges of God as well as the law.’
Paul admits that in regard to these outward advantages, yes, the Jews were better off. These outward advantages should have helped them understand the gospel message and the idea of justification through faith. But they didn’t. So, in an inward, spiritual respect, the Jews are every bit as corrupt as the Gentiles. Both stand in need of justification by faith. Therefore, the gospel is just as necessary for one group as the other.
DIGGING DEEPER: Paul is about to continue his argument that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin and void of righteousness. Consequently, both groups stand in equal need of justification by faith in Christ.
In verses 10-18, Paul will reference several Old Testament texts to make his point. These passages include Psalms 14, Psalms 10, Psalms 36, Psalms 5, Psalms 140 and Isaiah 59. Through these different portions of biblical text, Paul shows that ALL (Jews and Greeks) are morally corrupt. He does this by giving the meaning of each passage, not necessarily by a direct quote.
Are we any better off: Or, ‘do we have any advantage over the Gentiles’. This question continues to refer to the subject at hand, which is justification before God. 
In chapter 3 verse 2, Paul asks the question, ‘What advantage has the Jew’ and his response is ‘Much in every way’. Now, in response to the question ‘are we any better off’ or ‘Do we have any advantage over the Gentiles’, Paul’s response is ‘No, not at all’. How can this be?
In verse two, Paul spoke of external advantages such as circumcision and a knowledge of the law. In this regard, the Jews clearly had an advantage over the Gentiles.
But in verse nine, Paul speaks of man’s inward state; the question is whether the Jews are inwardly (spiritually or morally) any better than the Gentiles and if so, are the Jews justified before God? In this regard, the answer is no.
No, not at all: As Paul is about to show, the Jews were born into sin just as the Gentiles, so by birth they are no better off, despite their outward advantages. Furthermore, the Jews practiced sin just as the Gentiles, so by nature they are no better off either. Paul concludes that the Jews are just as deserving of the wrath of God as anyone else because their outward advantages did not lead them to acceptance of justification by faith.
In fact, it could be said that in some ways the Jews were worse off because having the law and not living by it aggravated their guilt.
For we have already charged: The word ‘charge’ is important. It is a legal term, used when an accuser brings an accusation of crime against someone else (a defendant). The term implies that the accuser is prepared to substantiate or prove the charges through facts, evidence, testimonies, and other proofs. This is critical because the charges must be proved, otherwise they are merely slander.
In this case, Paul charges that all (Jews and Gentiles alike) are under sin, all are justly condemned as sinners before God, and all are under the curse of death, which is the penalty for sin. This is the train of thought that Paul pursues to the end of chapter three.
Fortunately, Paul will eventually get to the point that, by the mercy of God, Jews and Gentiles have an equal right to the blessings of God under the new covenant of justification by faith!
Both Jews and Greeks are under sin: The Jews were more than willing to accept the fact that the Greeks/Gentiles were under sin. But they could not (or would not) see themselves in the same light. For this reason, Paul had to ‘charge’ or ‘legally accuse’ them of wickedness and then prove the charges through facts, evidence, testimonies, and other proofs, much as we would do in a modern court of law.
The crime or charge Paul brings against the Jews is that they are just as wicked as the Gentiles.
The first witness for the prosecution is the law itself. Paul begins by entering several Old Testament passages into evidence. He uses passages from a number of different dispensations in Israel’s history – the era before the kings, the period of the monarchy, and the time of the prophets (during and after the captivity).
These scriptures testify to the corrupt state of mankind as a whole. If the facts show that the whole human race has been corrupt throughout the time of Israel’s history, then the logical conclusion is that the Jews are no better than the Gentiles.
The truth presented by scripture would be impossible for the Jews to simply ignore because they absolutely and unconditionally maintained that the Old Testament carried divine authority.
Romans 3:10 - …as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;”
GENERAL SUMMARY: In verses 10-12, Paul enters several Old Testament scriptures into evidence as proof that the entire human race is guilty of sin. 
DIGGING DEEPER: As it is written: This paraphrase is based on Psalms 14:1-3 and Psalms 53:1-3, which were both penned by King David.
None is righteous, no not one: In these two passages, David laments the corrupt nature of all of mankind, and he concludes that none are righteous.
In this passage, God is represented as looking down from heaven upon mankind to see if there were any who feared/respected him and sought after him. Sadly, God (who cannot be deceived) found no one. Thus, we can safely conclude that there was none to be found.
Human history was one long, sad catalogue of selfishness and crime. There were no redeeming features in humanity. No one sought after a knowledge of God and his righteousness; there was nothing evident but guilt and corruption. Hence it follows that the Jews were no better than the Gentiles:
- No member of mankind is originally righteous - We have all been born into sin and unless we embrace Christ by faith, we remain totally unrighteous and under the curse of the law.
- No member of mankind is meritoriously righteous – We cannot claim righteousness through obedience, neither is there any way by which we can earn or buy righteousness; even the most holy among us has nothing of value in God’s eyes:
Isaiah 64:6 – But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags…
- No member of mankind is practically righteous – We have no plan, no hope, no chance of ever finding a way to redeem ourselves. Righteousness and justification are a gift of God provided through Christ; we had nothing to do with it.
This dashes the Jewish belief that they were righteous before God simply because they were the custodians of the law.
Romans 3:11 – “…no one understands; no one seeks for God.”
No one understands: The word ‘understand’ does not denote a mere intellectual operation of the mind; it refers to the state of one’s heart which prompts or motivates the mind to obey and worship God.
Jeremiah 4:22 – For my [God’s] people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’ – in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.
No one seeks for God: In other words, there is no one that strives to be acquainted with his character, no one who endeavors to know and perform his will or to live by his commands. It is evident that ‘no one understands’ by the fact that no one seeks God.
As one bible commentator put it, ‘Empty is the man who does not have a knowledge of God.’ Whatever other learning he or she has (knowledge of art, science, history, etc.) is vain and empty if it does not stand upon the foundation of a knowledge of God.
By contrast, a righteous man counts it his highest honor and privilege to know God and understand/carry out his will.
Romans 3:12 – “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
All have turned aside: Both Jews and Greeks/Gentiles have turned aside from the righteous ways of God and become mired in sin.
The Gentiles have rejected the law that God wrote in nature and on their hearts while the Jews had forsaken or failed to live according to the law. The departure of both groups from the truth conclusively proves that evil is the natural state of all mankind.
Together: Together can mean that Jews and Gentiles have become worthless ‘at the same time’ or that Jews and Gentiles have become equally worthless. In either case, the two groups are united in their rejection of God, which removes all cords of brotherly love and causes men to despise others and seek only what is good for themselves. 
They have become worthless: In the Hebrew, the word ‘worthless’ means to become putrid or offensive, like spoiled food. In other words, all mankind has become spiritually corrupt, useless and unfit for the purpose they were given – to serve God and promote the good of others. The Psalmist declares that both Jews and Gentiles are like heaps of rotting meat - they are nauseating in God’s sight.
No one does good not even one: Paul’s overall point is that because God is the Father of all, a knowledge of him unites mankind in doing good and loving their neighbors. But where there is ignorance or rejection of God, people no longer seek the good of others; life becomes ‘every man for himself’.
In the spiritual sense, no one can do good without the grace of God, the strength of Christ and the anointing of Holy Spirit. Even then, man cannot do good perfectly and without sin.
Romans 3:13 – “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips.”
GENERAL SUMMARY: In verses 13-18, Paul uses a collection of scriptures which speak of the depravity of man at work in different members of the body (throat, tongue, mouth, feet, eyes). He seems to be making the point that from head to foot, man is full of wickedness.
DIGGING DEEPER: Their throat is an open grave: In Psalms 5, the writer discourses on the sins of deceit, falsehood and slander. Paul uses this passage of scripture as a basis to reprove the verbal sins of the Jews who were false, traitorous and slanderous – actions which prove that the Jews were just as unrighteous as the Gentiles.
This phrase is generally understood in one of two ways.
The first interpretation personifies an open grave/death as a living entity that has a wide-open throat ready and eager to receive everyone and everything into its dominion of destruction.
In the same way, the mouth and throat of the liar, slanderer or deceiver is always open to swallow up the peace and happiness of anyone it can entrap.
The second interpretation says that just as an offensive, noxious or infectious odor would emanate from an open grave, so words of death, destruction and bondage proceed from the mouths and throats of liars and slanderers.
Matthew 12:34-35 – You [unbelieving Jews] brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
We might say that what proceeds out of the liar’s heart, passes through the throat, vents in his speech and manifests in his actions. These deadly thoughts, words and actions are like the pestilential breath of an open grave, bringing sickness, death and chaos.
They use their tongues to deceive: This clearly refers to sins of the tongue. God gave us tongues to aid in speech. Our ability to speak should be used to glorify God and build one another up. But when mankind is left to his own devices, he naturally uses his tongue for evil – lies, deception, flattery, cursing, slander, gossip, etc.
Furthermore, Paul is also implying that the conversation, promises and teachings of the Jews have been false and treacherous. They are liars who speak evil of their neighbors and lead people astray:
Jeremiah 9:5 - And they [Israel] will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
The venom of asps: This is a reference to 140:3.
The lips/speech of man have their highest purpose in praising God, proclaiming the gospel and encouraging others:
Hebrews 13:15 - By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
But because of our fallen natures, mankind uses his tongue for evil. The Psalmist compares our words to the deadly poison of an asp or adder, a small snake whose poison is so potent its prey is killed almost instantly. 
The overall meaning is that just as the poison of the asp is rapid and certain, quickly spreading death throughout the victim’s body, so the words of a slanderer/liar are deadly, quickly destroying the peace, reputation and happiness of their victim. Once the poison enters your bloodstream, it causes irreparable harm and eventual death.
Think of it this way: Suppose you had a giant bag of snakes, which you decided to open up in a public park. Once you opened it, the snakes slithered away quickly. Realizing your mistake, you want to gather them and lock them back up in the bag, but you can’t – they are impossible to find and capture. Indeed, they have already bitten several people in the park, and those folks are now dying.
So it is with our mouths. It is in our power to open our mouths and let words out. But once those words are loose in the world (or in the life of another person), there’s no way to take them back. They can never be recaptured. Whatever damage or suffering your words have caused, it cannot be undone.
Is under their lips: The poison gland of the serpent is located in or near the mouth and the poison is discharged through the fang. Likewise, the poison of man also flows through the mouth and is discharged through the tongue in the form of speech.
James 3:6 - And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
Romans 3:14 – “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
DIGGING DEEPER: This quote is found in Psalms 10:7. Again, the apostle has not quoted the verse literally, but has used it because of the underlying truth it contains. In Psalms 10, David is describing his bitter enemies.
Their mouth is full: This denotes the frequency of their sin; since the mouth is full of cursing and corruption, that is what comes out every time their mouths are opened.
Curses and bitterness: This may mean sin in general including words and actions. Alternatively, the meaning may be limited to sinful words such as oaths, curses, and any deceitful or slanderous words. Bitterness refers to mischievous deceit.
This verse is clearly tied to verse 13. Scripture tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). Therefore, the flattering, lying, deceitful, harmful speech of mankind in general (and therefore the Jews specifically) proves that the whole human race is corrupt and sinful.
Romans 3:15 – “Their feet are swift to shed blood;”
Paul borrows this phrase from Psalms 10:7 as well as Isaiah 59:7-8. The former verses spoke of the sins of speech (lips, mouth, tongue, throat). This verse is dedicated to the sins of the feet. Since feet are the instruments of motion/action this phrase refers to behavior of wicked men.
The expression ‘their feet are swift to shed blood’ reveals the eagerness of man to commit crime, specifically the crimes of injustice and cruelty. They are pictured as thirsting for the blood of the innocent, and hastening to shed it to satisfy their own vengeance. They make use of every means in their power to destroy the reputation and lives of the innocent.
This may also refer to actual murder and is likely a reference to king Manasseh who shed so much innocent blood, he is described as filling Jerusalem with it (II Kings 21:16).
Isaiah 52:7 – How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Instead of the feet of men being blessed because they bring good news or run in the way of God’s commands (Psalms 119:32, Proverbs 1:16), they are employed in conducting the darkest of deeds upon their fellow man.
Romans 3:16 – “…in their paths are ruin and misery,”
This verse can be understood two ways. 
First, this could be true in an active sense; wherever the wicked men travel, they bring destruction to the reputation, peace and happiness of others. This results in calamity, ruin and death.
In other words, generally speaking, it is the tendency of sinful mankind to destroy the virtue and happiness of everyone they come into contact with.
Second, this could be true in a passive sense; by their sinful ways and vicious course of life, wicked men bring destruction and misery upon themselves. This is not surprising since they are walking along the ‘broad way that leads to destruction’ (Matthew 7:13), which eventually leads to death of the body and soul in hell.
Let me offer you some encouragement and some relief:
In verse 13, Paul tells us that sinners speak words of death, destruction and bondage. Since we are in close contact with sinners every day, their poison can infiltrate our lives.
It is virtually impossible to escape the poison of corrupted speech – it is found in ordinary conversation, in songs, in cursing and profane expressions, in novels, in podcasts, on websites and in worldly teaching. And once that poison gets into your system, it causes irreparable harm and even death.
So what can you do?
First, you can combat that poison with the word of God.
- When an unbeliever tells you that you are worthless, let scripture remind you that you are so valuable to God, he gave up his Son that you might spend eternity with him.
- When an unbeliever tells you that you will never amount to anything, let scripture remind you that God has an amazing plan specifically for your life.
- When an unbeliever tells you that you are a failure, let scripture remind you that God has not set you up for failure, but for victory.
Second, you can pray and ask the Lord to break any curses that the words of others have placed upon your life. It may be that you yourself have spoken failure or other bondage into your own life. Regardless of the situation, repent/renounce those words and ask the Lord to break those curses in your life.
Third, look yourself in the mirror and speak God’s words of life and blessing over yourself. Ask Holy Spirit to help you control your own tongue.
Finally, you can limit your exposure to poison speech. Be careful what you read, what you listen to and what you watch. You may find that you need to limit your time with certain people.
Let me offer you some strength:
Paul is in the midst of arguing that all of mankind is on the slippery slope of sin, which will eventually result in eternal death and suffering – unless we become justified in the eyes of God.
The good news is that God has provided exactly what we need; Jesus the Messiah paid the debt of our sin on the cross. All that we need to do to obtain justification is to repent of our sin, ask his forgiveness and dedicate our lives to him.
If you have never given your life to Christ, or if you have grown cold in your relationship with him, it’s time to make things right. Bow your head right now, and pray in your own words. If you don’t know how to begin, here is a prayer you start with:
Jesus, I am sorry for the sins I’ve committed including _______________. I’m asking you to cleanse me with your blood and forgive me. Please send Holy Spirit to live within my heart and help me live my life for you. In Jesus’ name, amen.