All Under Sin

We return to our review of the Gospel as presented in Romans. Today, we come to a place where Paul brings some things together. He summarizes what he explained earlier in his letter. And that summary is short and sweet and abundantly clear. Listen.

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…  Romans 3.9

Back in chapter one, Paul explained how the Gentiles, here labeled as Greeks, are under sin. In chapter two, Paul explained how the Jews are under sin. So, everyone is under sin.

At this point Paul brings in some Scripture to show that he isn’t saying something new. He quotes from one of the Psalms. Listen.

as it is written: "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." Romans 3.10-12

Paul is abundantly clear. All of humanity is in this situation. All of humanity is under sin.

However, Paul doesn’t stop with this. He adds some more Scripture. He doesn’t do this just to pile on. No, he has some good reasons for making these additions. Listen again.

​Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. ​Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. ​Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. ​There is no fear of God before their eyes. Romans 3.13-18

Why does Paul bother with all of this? What does it add? Well, it goes back to how he described our situation. You’ll notice that he didn’t summarize things by saying ‘all are sinners’. That is certainly true. But he wrote something that says much more than that.

all … are under sin.

It seems like such a small change. Does that make any real difference? Absolutely! It’s not that we have done some sinful things. No, it’s much worse than that. It’s that we are under the authority, under the power, of sin. That’s very different. And to make that clear, Paul includes that list of verses that I just read.

Let me explain. Did you notice how those verses are similar? They refer to parts of the body: the throat, the feet, the eyes and more. In each case Paul uses some Scripture that teaches the sinful use of that part of the body. What’s his point? It’s that we are all under the power of sin and that shows in how we speak and act and all the rest. It’s not that we have some bad habits and do some sinful things. No, sin has a power over people. It controls us in all the different aspects of who we are.

Now, theologians have thought up a name, a label, to describe this state, this being ‘under sin’. They call it ‘total depravity’. There have been many ways in which this label has been misunderstood. So, let me clarify. Total depravity does not mean that we are as depraved, as evil, as we can be. No. What it is saying is that sin has affected us throughout. Every aspect of who we are is under the power of sin. How that show will vary from person to person. Some pagan tyrant who is quite merciless is totally depraved. But so is your pagan neighbor who helps you out by using his snow blower on your walk in the winter. Sin’s power over both of them is total, complete. It just shows differently. The label, total depravity, is just a short way of saying what Paul wrote here. We are all, Jews and Gentiles, under the power of sin.

Now, that is quite helpful. It explains some things. It explains why no one can become a Christian all on his own. Remember what Paul wrote. Because sin controls all of who we are,

no one understands; no one seeks for God.

In fact, because of sin,

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

So, how could any such person, a person under the power of sin in these and other ways, ever even be interested in repenting and coming to Jesus? Isn’t it obvious that God must initiate any change? He must act in changing a person from someone completely controlled by sin to someone who loves Jesus.

You are Christians because God acted and made that happen, even though you were one of those who did not understand God and who did not seek for Him. You were one of those who are under the power of sin. By His grace, the Spirit of God made changes in you. The Spirit of God caused you to be born again.

Let’s take apart what the Spirit did. First, He gave you the ability to understand a bit of reality. Remember what Paul wrote.

no one understands…

Only because of what the Spirit did in you were you able to understand that you were a condemned sinner before a holy God. Because of what the Spirit did in you, you were also able to understand that Jesus offered to rescue you from the justice you deserved.

But, remember again, how Paul explained that no one seeks for God. Someone understanding the reality of his situation and understanding Jesus’ offer doesn’t automatically mean that he will want Jesus to be his savior, that someone will actually seek for Him. That desire, that wanting to accept Jesus’ offer, is also something that the Spirit grants a person. And once He does that the person comes to Jesus.

This is what it means for the Spirit to cause you to be born again. He changed you enough so that, understanding the reality of your situation and seeing Jesus as the Savior, you actually wanted to accept His offer. So, you did.

The fact that you are a Christian is a matter of pure grace. Left to your own resources and abilities that would never have happened.

Now, why did I explain all of that? Well, why did Paul write about it? It’s because the wonder of God’s grace is revealed most clearly when we get to see most clearly what the problem actually is. The problem is total depravity. We were under the complete control of sin. But the grace of God dealt with that problem. And here we are, the saints of God. Thanks be to God for His amazing grace. So, once again, we see that knowing a little theory - knowing about total depravity, knowing about being under sin - can make a big difference.

But Paul isn’t quite done. He goes on to comment on alternative solutions to the problem of being under sin. Listen.

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. Romans 3.19-20

It’s that last sentence that I want you to notice.

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Paul’s point is that trying to keep the law is no solution to the problem of sin. All that law-keeping does is make your sinfulness clearer to you. That’s what he means when he writes,

through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Now, when Paul wrote that he was talking about the Jews of his day. They thought that keeping the law of God was the way to deal with sin. Here, think about the Pharisees. But the problem of trying to deal with sin in this way is not limited to first century Jews.

Consider. We are Christians. Because of what Jesus has done, applied to us by the Spirit, we are no longer under the power of sin. We have been freed from that power. However, as you are well aware, we still sin. That’s not good, for a lot of reasons.

How do we change that? What do we do to get rid of our sinful habits and become pious people who make God look as good as He really is?

That is what the ministry of the Church is about, changing lives so that not only the power of sin is broken but also that the habits of sin are rejected and replaced. 

And how does the Church work to achieve this lofty goal? It’s not by encouraging law-keeping. That’s not the way to deal with sin. Now, you’re going to say that everybody who is a Christian knows that. But I’m not so sure that that’s true.

We all have our particular sin habits that plague us. Let me pick one that’s a popular topic these days. Let’s talk about how to have a better marriage. Here’s what happens all too often: a sermon titled ‘Four Principles for Making Your Marriage Work Better’ is preached. And the four principles are,

Be sure to listen to each other.

Be patient when the other person acts poorly.

Go out of your way to do something kind for the other.

And be sure to tell your spouse that you love him or her.

What is that? Well, it’s a way of trying to deal with some sin habits, things like not listening, being impatient and the rest.

But did you notice the way those sin habits are to be dealt with? It’s by law-keeping. I realize that they’re not called laws. That sermon talked about ‘principles’. But whatever you call them, in effect, they’re still laws. It’s still a matter of, ‘Do these things, and it will all be good.’

But law-keeping never works when it comes to dealing with sin. And that’s why there are so many frustrated Christians. They’re working at applying those principles, or others like them, but all that happens is that they see how they are failing.

through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Let me be clear. Those four principles are important. They are some very good habits that a married couple really should adopt. But the fact of the matter is that, on our own, we won’t do them well enough for them to make the kind of change that pleases Jesus. Pleasing Him is always the first priority. Though the power of sin is broken in us, that power is not gone. Our habits of sin are strong. Law-keeping won’t work.

It’s important to see this because it answers the question of how Christians can be freed from their habits of sin. We are freed from the habits of sin in the same way that we were freed from the power of sin. It’s by the Gospel.

Let’s review. What happens when someone is converted? The Spirit gives that person the ability to see reality, at least a little bit of reality concerning their situation. Then the Spirit gives the ability to see Jesus as savior from that situation. And finally, the Spirit gives the desire to be rescued. As a result, that person comes to Jesus. That’s how a person becomes a Christian.

Here’s my point. All of that is as true of growing as a Christian as it is of becoming one. We are saved - past tense, present tense, future tense - by the Gospel.

Consider two Christians in a marriage. And the husband is terrible at listening, really listening, to his wife. So, the Spirit makes the sinfulness of that habit clear to the husband. It’s a greater peek at reality. The husband gets it. He is convicted of his sin. Then, the Spirit points the husband to Jesus as the one who rescues from that sinful habit. The husband acknowledges that Jesus will deal with that particular sin, if he repents. Then, the Spirit gives the husband the desire to repent of that sin and come to Jesus for forgiveness and for change. Now, please note that last part, ‘and for change’. In this case, the change has to do with listening. By the Spirit, Jesus blesses that repentant Christian husband with a greater desire to listen to his wife, a desire that wasn’t there before, at least not to that degree. And so, he does better at listening. And Jesus is pleased.

That’s change by the Gospel. Law-keeping will never do that because law-keeping doesn’t deal with the real problem. We have habits of sin that go deep, deep into our souls. Only the Spirit of Jesus can touch them. Only He can change our souls. And the only way that He does that is by repentance and faith in the Gospel.

Now, let me pull this together. What has the sermon been about? It’s been about a clearer understanding of sin. It’s been about a clearer understanding of the problem that confronts all humanity. Total depravity. Being under sin. When we see how large the problem is, that’s when we get to see how large the solution is. By the Spirit, Jesus has broken the power of sin in the life of a Christian. And nothing less than Jesus, working by the Spirit, could ever do that. But it is also true that Jesus, by the Spirit, is in the process of removing the habits of sin in us. And again, nothing less than Jesus, working by the Spirit, could ever do that. Law-keeping won’t solve the first problem, and it won’t solve the second one either. I want you to understand how big the problem of sin was and continues to be so that you will come to understand more and more clearly how the Gospel saves. And that is why I repeatedly tell you, ‘Believe the Gospel’.