“July 22, 2024 - Different Roads to the Same Place”

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Different Roads to the Same Place

Reading:  Romans 3:9-20
    
    While the Jewish people have certainly had some advantages (Rom 3:1-2), it has not led to them pleasing God.  “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”(Rom 3:9).  While Paul has detailed the sinfulness of the Gentiles (Rom 1:18-32), the Old Testament itself describes the continual rebellion and immorality of the Jewish people.  Paul strings together a series of Old Testament passages here (v. 10-18) to confirm this point.  

    The first reference is from Psalm 14 and summarizes the situation:  “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”(Rom 3:10-12).  The wording here can be misunderstood.  Paul is not arguing that no one ever seeks God at all or ever does anything good.  His point is that even Jews, who have the Law of Moses and a special relationship with God, do not live righteously and follow him all the time.  If they are judged, they are also found wanting.  The charges that the Law makes against them (Rom 3:13-18) prove the point.  “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin”(Rom 3:19-20).  The fact that these condemnations are in the Law means that they are addressed to Jews and cannot be avoided.  No one can protest; God is right to condemn us all.  More, the Law does not save us from this condemnation, but only serves to condemn (v. 20).  We need a new way to be right with God.

    All people stand guilty before God.  “All, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin”(Rom 3:9).  Yet we have all arrive at this place by a different road.  Gentiles dismissed what they knew from nature; Jews violated what they learned from the Law.  Gentiles pursued riotous living (Rom 1:28-32); Jews ignored their sin and condescended to others (Rom 2:1-2).  Every person’s story is different.  Our histories, temptations, and trajectories differ, yet we all end up lost in sin and in need of a savior.

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One Thing to Think About:  In what ways have I rebelled against God?

One Thing to Pray For:  A heart to seek for God and do good 
 

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