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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Romans 3:10
Comments
Now follows a string of quotations from the Old Testament, all of which show what man really is in his natural state. It is a kind of patchwork quilt of quotations, mainly from the Psalms, but also from the prophets, and Ecclesiastes, all of which are therefore regarded as Scripture by Paul (Hendriksen). There is almost nothing like it in the Scripture, in describing how everyone is fallen, and sinful, and condemned. The apostle Paul takes these great statements from different places and just runs them seamlessly together. It is an irrefutable passage, and it proves to doubting Jews that the Old Testament Scriptures uphold his doctrine. Man is a fallen creature, a slave to sin, of whom nothing can be said to his credit. The passage is an exposition of human depravity. First he expresses this negatively to show what man is not, what he lacks. He lacks any righteousness acceptable to God. This is not to say that all men are as bad as they can possibly be; God exercises a restraint on human wickedness. But it means that whatever good works they are capable of do not count as righteousness in the eyes of God, because they are so mixed with, and spoiled by, sin. Even if the outward act is right, the act does not come from a good motive, and it certainly does not come from love for God or his law. Grudging obedience is lacking something vital, for God commands us to obey him from our hearts. He requires us to obey him with our mind, our affections, and our wills, and with all the zeal we are capable of. The sinful nature in each one of us with which we come into the world prevents us doing this.He quotes first from Psalm 14:1. ‘There is none righteous, no, not one.’ You couldn't be more emphatic than that. Every single person, by nature, without conversion to God, is away from God, rejecting him and sinning against him. This is man’s universal condition as he comes into the world. We do not have to examine each new child that is born to see whether it is true also of them. It is true of all born since the time of Adam, and of all who will be born while time continues.
Application
That is so important; it is what we all need to know. Before we are converted this is one of the great things that we need to hear. Everyone is a wicked sinner before God. But we immediately begin to think, ‘Oh that cannot be true. I know some good people. I know some people who should not be condemned. I know some people who go about doing good.’ We do not like to hear this. But this is the teaching of God. ‘No, not one.’ All of us in our hearts, and in most of our deeds, are fallen.
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