Man Cannot Save Himself

Sinners Can't Save Themselves
Rom 3:9-20

1. We Are All Sinners—Rom 3:9

a. The Previous Charge – (Rom 3:9

b. “…..they are all under sin.”

(1) I am a sinner

(1 Tim 1:13) "although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief."

(1 Tim 1:15) "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."

(2) You are a sinner

(3) You may be a saved sinner, growing in the Grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, or you are a lost sinner standing in need of salvation, but you and I were born sinners.

2. No One Is Righteous—Rom 3:10 "As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one…”

a. As it is written—

(1) A perfect tense, something that is settled and sure, set in stone.

(2) Paul quotes from at least seven OT passages

(3) Why do I do so many cross references?

(a) First, that is how Jesus, Peter, Paul, John, and the other apostles preached—as this passage!

(i) Humanly, Romans is a thorough exposition of the Old Testament Text, Hab 2:4, “…the just shall live by faith…”

(b) Secondly, the cross references I use show that the expository Truth I am preaching is backed up by the Bible as a whole, and they give us additional insights to insure that we can clearly understand the Word.

b. What is “righteousness?” The word refers to perfect negative and positive right-ness toward God—to be so right before Him that we can fellowship with God.

(1) Negative—there can be no sin at all

(2) Positive—the person must have holiness, which is a presence of right-ness, not just the absence of sin.

(3) Look at the first man—he enjoyed fellowship with God—Who “gave the bride away” at Adam’s wedding! What happened after he sinned—he went and hid from God.

(4) The Standard is perfection, the Bible is plain that among mere men this does not exist.

c. First, the Biblical Contexts Ps 5:9, Ps 14:1-3, Ps 36:1, Ps 53:3, Ps 140:3, Ps 10:7, Is 59:7 are all quoted here—Paul is making his case from the Old Testament

d. Doctrinal Implications of No, Not ONE

(1) No one (excepting the God-Man) is or has been righteous

(2) To those who worship her—Mary is not righteous—except by substitution—Even she recognized God as her Savior—(Luke 1:46-47) "And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."

(3) No mere man or woman can be righteous unless that righteousness is provided by someone else.

(4) The Greek here begins a three part reiteration

NOT, there is one righteous

NOT there is one who understands

NOT there is one who seeks God

3. Why Can’t Man Save Himself?

a. Lost Man cannot know nor understand God —Rom 3:11 “…There is none who understands…”

(1) The Greek is powerful— “Not there is one who understands…” The natural man in incapable of understanding—1 Cor 2:14

(2) The Natural mind cannot relate to God—Rom 8:6-7

(3) The lost are blinded by Satan—2 Cor 4:3-4

(4) The Lost are under the power of Satan—Eph 2:1-3, 2 Tim 2:19—captured at Satan’s will

b. Man is unable and unwilling to seek God on his own—Rom 3:11 “…There is none who seeks after God…”

(1) The Same verbal construction—NOT, there is one seeking…

(2) The Lost Will Not Seek—Isaiah 64:6-7

(3) Only those who are drawn will come—John 6:44-47, 63-65

c. Man has turned from God by his own choice—3:12 “…They have all turned aside; [This means the same in the original as that they have deserted during wartime]

(1) They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.""

(2) This is also from Psa 53:3 “…Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one…”
(3) The word “unprofitable” in the Greek, corresponds to the Hebrew word for “corrupt”, and it means “useless, like soured milk….”

d. Man reveals his depravity by his tongue

(1) Man cannot really even talk a good game, but people slander, destroy, trap, deceive, and exercise unbiblical dominion over people by the poison of the tongue, and they curse God and man.— Rom 3:14-15
(James 3:5-8)

e. Man is a “Killer Angel…”

(1) 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood…” Surely our modern day teaches us this. Man is not getting better, he is getting worse

f. 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; There is one universal human factor in all societies—war, mass killings, and all that goes with them.

Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler, Mao, Stalin….

g. 17 And the way of peace they have not known." Mankind is incapable of long-term peace: the best he can do is to slow things down for awhile. The history of mankind has been written with a sword dipped in blood.

h. 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes." And this is the real motivating factor—man’s mindset is violent because man’s mind set is to ignore God or claim He does not exist.

Gen 6:5, Gen 8:21

4. The Law’s verdict—3:19-20

a. Whatever the law says—“let God be true, and every man a liar…..” Rom 3:4

b. Those under the law—this is everyone!

(1) The Jews had the law written on tablets of stone—Exodus 20

(2) The Gentiles had the law engraved on their hearts—they had the conscience that God gave them—(Romans 2) they had the witness of the book of nature (Ps 19)

c. The Law of God tells us to shut up

d. And finally, the statement toward which Paul has been heading since the beginning of Romans—(Rom 3:20) "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

e. Man Cannot save himself in any way, shape or form, and to any measure whatsoever.

f. But—God can Sinners, and He WILL, and He DOES!

g. God Saves Sinners!

(Rom 3:24)
(Rom 3:28)
(Rom 4:4-5)
(Rom 4:6-8)
(Rom 5:1)
(Rom 8:1)
(Rom 8:38-39)