Romans 3:10–12

Paul sums up the whole human race. He reviews first the pagan nations, then the civilized pagan, and last the religious Jew with all his God-given advantages — and with each he is just as sweeping. "None is righteous, no, not one." "No one understands; no one seeks for God." That is how the summing up of Romans 3 runs. It is largely made up of carefully chosen quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures, which the Jewish people received and revered outwardly. Paul testified to nothing new. How could a Jew stand up and deny his own Scriptures?

The first quotation (vv. 10-12) is a passage found twice in the Psalms (Ps. 14 and Ps. 53). The repetition seems to show that its statements are very important and that we must not miss them — though they are the kind of statements we would be very glad to miss if we had our way.

The first count is this: none righteous — not even one. That includes us all. The statement is like a net — so wide that it takes everyone in, so sound that not the smallest fish can find a tear to escape through. Not one of us is right in our relationship with God.

First God strips us of our self-righteousness. It is written, "None is righteous, no, not one". It is hard for us to believe that all our righteous acts are like filthy rags, and that there is not one righteous person in God's sight. We might plead that surely there are a few; but God says, "Not one". This does not mean there are no honest people; it means that not one of us has given God His rights. It would only be right for us to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. But no one has done so, and so no one is righteous before God.

Man is a completely lost creature, with no point of recovery in himself. In Romans 3:10-11 the denial comes three times over. We all readily agree with the first: "None is righteous." Even so, there is hope for an unrighteous man if only he sees his condition. But then — "no one understands." That being so, the only faint hope left is that a man might somehow be drawn toward God and begin to understand. And once more — "no one seeks for God." Then hope is dead as far as man is concerned!

If you apply the law, "None is righteous, no, not one." God does not say this in the day of judgment; He warns us in the day of grace. In mercy He tells us beforehand what His verdict on us is. If He were sitting on the great white throne, could it be any plainer than we get it in Romans 3? Can a man stand up after that and say, I am righteous? Is that the way to meet God? Is He a liar?

Now the question becomes one of a completely different righteousness. Man is all wrong; there is no righteousness in him. That has already been proved. So the only righteousness left is God's. The first great truth stated is this: man as a whole, man of every rank and kind, is written off as having no righteousness by God's standard. So it becomes a question of God showing His own righteousness, if He so pleases. This He does, and in a way fully worthy of Himself.

He has pronounced clearly and firmly against the whole world. Dear friends, have you accepted His sentence? That is your only hope.

The law, he says, belongs to you. You boast that it refers to you exclusively. Very well — then hear what it says about the people, about yourselves. It speaks to you, as you admit. There is not one righteous man among you on whom God can look down from heaven... So every mouth is shut, and all the world is guilty before God.

God looked at men in the way Psalm 14 describes, and the sight was pitiful. The psalm reads: "The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God." In view of such sweeping statements, anyone who pleads righteousness with God shows real insensibility to the true state of things. It suits us all better to admit that we are truly guilty, and then throw ourselves entirely on God's unlimited grace.

It is bad that no one is righteous (verse 10). It is worse that no one understands, for that means a state not just of ignorance but of insensibility. Worst of all, no one wants to understand or to seek after God — and righteousness and understanding and life are found in Him. To the natural man there is nothing desirable in God. Man is not right; he does not understand that he is not right; he has no desire after God who is right. In one word, he is dead towards God.

"There is none that understands" — the very intelligence of all is corrupted by sin. "There is none that seeks after God" — not even a right object is before them; there is no concern to know God.

"Oh, well," says the objector, "if man's understanding has gone astray, there are still his instincts and feelings. Those are sound, and if he follows them they will surely lead him to God." But count number three confronts us — there is no one who seeks after God. Then what does man seek? He seeks self-pleasing, self-advancement, self-glory. So he seeks money, pleasure, sin. What he seeks once the power of God has touched his heart is another matter. The point here is what he seeks according to his fallen nature, apart from the grace of God.

In Romans 3:10-11 the word "none" is repeated three times. We all easily agree with the first, "There is none righteous." Still, for an unrighteous man there is hope, if only he recognises his condition. But — "There is none that understands." If that is so, the only faint hope is that something draws a man Godward, so that he may begin to understand. But again — "There is none that seeks after God." Then hope is dead, as far as man is concerned.

The word of God says plainly, No. "There is none that seeks after God." He came to seek them, thank God, but when He came He was rejected... Notice that Jesus says, "You will not come" (the ESV reads, "you refuse to come to me"). I fully believe they are responsible for it; but where do you find, "You will"? ... God certainly does not stop anyone from coming, but such is the state of man's heart that he will not. This is why the work of God is necessary.

If men do not want Him, He wants them! Right after the rebellion in the garden, God called out, "Where are you?" The gospel tells us — blessed thought! — that God is now the Seeker after men. This is the meaning of His beloved Son coming among us. So the New Testament never commands sinners to seek the Lord, though it is still their responsibility to do so. Instead it tells them that God is seeking them. Jesus said, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

All are free to come, but left to himself man will not come. There is none that understands, none that seeks after God. So the Lord shows clearly that if men are to be blessed, it can only be by sovereign grace.

It was a pitiful sight that God saw when He surveyed men in the way described in Psalm 14. … In view of such sweeping statements, it shows real insensitivity to the true state of things for anyone to plead righteousness with God. It is more fitting for all of us to admit that we are truly guilty. Then we can throw ourselves without reserve on God's unlimited grace.

Fourth, "All have turned aside." This describes the self-will of the flesh. It deliberately abandons God's way and chooses its own. We have not simply strayed off the road. The natural man turns his back on God on purpose and takes a way of his own choosing. The prodigal son deliberately left his father's house and went his own way.

The whole passage is a solemn picture of what the human condition really is, as God sees it. There is the absence of all good — the presence of all evil. God declares man completely unprofitable. He is of no profit to the God who made him, for he only lives to dishonour Him. He can profit neither his neighbour nor himself, for all the works of his hands are evil. The purposes of his heart are pure emptiness.

Fifth, "Together they have become worthless." Not only does the flesh choose its own path, but men drag one another down. Men try to forget God in the social circle. The self-will of the prodigal led him to choose his own way and travel to a distant country. Once there, he threw himself into the social round and tried to forget his father among a crowd of wrongdoers.

All are astray. All are unprofitable, even massed together. You can add zeros to zeros in their thousands, and it still adds up to nothing. And man's works are wrong as well as his ways. He may do a thousand things that look very fine on the surface. Yet they are all wrong, because the motive behind them is completely wrong. No work is right except the work that springs from seeking God and His interests.

God does not say that people who are not born again are never refined, or cultured, or able, or sweet-tempered, or generous, or charitable, or even religious. But He does say that none are righteous, none understand God, and none seek after Him.

There was a man named Joe Whitbread, a self-righteous man who boasted in his goodness. He fell ill, and a wise Christian visited him. Telling him he was a sinful man would have been useless; it would only have started an argument. So the visitor took another approach. He turned to Romans 3 and read: none is righteous, no, not one (except Joe Whitbread). No one understands, no one seeks for God (except Joe Whitbread)… That was enough. The word of God pierced his conscience, and he confessed that what was true of everyone was true of him.

"All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" — that was what God saw when He looked down from heaven. But when God searched Jesus through and through, He found nothing but perfect love and perfect devotedness to God… Suppose it had ended there, with only Christ's own perfection. The whole result would have been to show our sinfulness and ruin more clearly by contrast. But He gave Himself. Peace was always His; it was for us that He "made peace by the blood of His cross."