Romans 3:9-18: a reflection

9What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one. 11There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. 12They have all turned away. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.” 13“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips.” 14“Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15“Their feet are swift to shed blood. 16Destruction and misery are in their ways. 17The way of peace, they haven’t known.” 18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Paul builds toward a sweeping and humbling conclusion, gathering the testimony of Scripture to make his case: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. It is a stark diagnosis, and it applies to all, Jew and Gentile alike: all are under sin, and none is righteous before God on their own.

Notice how thoroughly this diagnosis levels us all. It does not say that some are righteous and some are not; it says none is righteous, no, not one. It sweeps away every claim to self-righteousness, every notion that we are basically good, better than others, able to stand before God on our own merit. All have turned aside; all are under sin. This is a humbling truth, and it is meant to be; it strips away our pride and our excuses, and leaves us with nothing to plead in ourselves.

But this humbling diagnosis is not the end; it is what drives us to grace. If none is righteous, if we cannot stand before God on our own merit, then we cannot save ourselves, and we need a righteousness that is not our own. That is exactly where Paul is leading: to the righteousness God gives freely, through faith in Christ, to those who have none of their own. Do not resist this humbling truth about yourself; receive it. You are not righteous on your own, and that is precisely why you need Christ. Let the honest recognition of your sin strip away your self-righteousness and drive you to the grace of God, who justifies not the righteous, for there are none, but sinners who come to him through Christ.

Lord, Paul gathers the testimony of Scripture to declare that none is righteous, no, not one; that all have turned aside and are under sin. Help me receive that humbling truth. It levels me with everyone else, sweeping away every claim to self-righteousness, every notion that I am basically good, better than others, able to stand before you on my own merit. This is a humbling truth, and it is meant to be; it strips away my pride and my excuses. But it is not the end; it drives me to grace. If none is righteous, if I cannot stand before you on my own merit, then I cannot save myself, and I need a righteousness that is not my own. Keep me from resisting this truth about myself; help me receive it. I am not righteous on my own, and that is precisely why I need Christ. Let the honest recognition of my sin strip away my self-righteousness and drive me to your grace, who justify sinners who come to you through Christ. I come to you as one who has no righteousness of my own.