Category: Understanding Romans
Therefore what? Are we superior? Not at all! For earlier we accused the Jews and also the Greeks all to be under sin, as it has been written, "There is none righteous, not even one. There is not an understanding man, there is not a man who seeks out God. Everybody turned away, they became worthless together. There is not a man who does kindness; there is not one for a time. (Romans 3:9-12)
Therefore what? Are we superior?… The question—Are the Jews superior to the Gentiles? The answer—Not at all. And here the apostle reminds his readers of the original point, namely, that everyone who has sinned will be condemned: sinning Jews will be judged by the Law, sinning Gentiles will perish without the Law. How many people are sinners? All Jews and Gentiles. Since everybody is either a Jew or a Gentile, this leaves no one outside of the sinner group.
Convincing Jews that Gentiles were sinners was like convincing children that monsters are scary. However, persuading the Jews that Jews were sinners was an arduous task; therefore, Paul quotes from the Old Testament Scriptures to prove his thesis.
As it has been written, "There is none righteous… God inquires as to how many men on earth are devoted to His truth and His ways; He finds that there is not even one (Jews included). This is a deplorable comment on mankind.
There is not an understanding man… "Understanding" and "seeks" are parallel in the Psalm(s) and convey the same basic thought. What God finds lacking in men is a careful consideration of His character and His desires. The Hebrew word translated seeks means "to seek with care." This kind of seeking includes a search into the details of a matter trying to obtain a thorough comprehension. There may be multitudes of men and women who seek after a god or some kind of divine spirituality. Yet no one is ardently striving to know the true, living God. No one!