Romans 3:10-18

Romans 3:10-18

[10] As  it is written,  none  righteous,  no, not  one:  [11] none  that understandeth,  none  that seeketh after  God.  [12] all  gone out of the way,  together  become unprofitable;  none  that doeth  good,  no, not  [13] Their  throat  is an open  sepulchre;  with their  tongues  they have used deceit;  the poison  of asps  is under  their  lips:  [14] Whose  mouth  is full  of cursing  and  bitterness:  [15] Their  feet  are swift  to shed  blood:  [16] Destruction  and  misery  are in  their  ways:  [17] And  the way  of peace  they not  known:  [18] no  fear  of God  before  their  eyes. 

What does Romans 3:10-18 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Paul was writing to a primarily Gentile congregation, so he concluded rather than began his argument with an appeal to Scripture. Contrast the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews who took the opposite approach when he addressed a primarily Jewish readership. The collection of passages Paul used both affirmed the universality of sin ( Romans 3:10-12) and showed its pervasive inroads into all areas of individual and corporate life ( Romans 3:13-18).
In Romans 3:10-12 statement of the universality of sin opens and closes the passage. Sin has affected human intellect, emotions, and volition: all aspects of human personality. Note the repetition of "none" as well as "all" and "not even one," all universal terms. In Romans 3:13-18 Paul described the words ( Romans 3:13-14), acts ( Romans 3:15-17), and attitudes ( Romans 3:18) of man as tainted by sin.
This passage is one of the most forceful in Scripture that deals with the total depravity of man. Total depravity does not mean that every person is as bad as he or she could be. It means that sin has affected every part of his or her being and consequently there is nothing anyone can do to commend himself or herself to a holy God.
"Depravity means that man fails the test of pleasing God. He [1] denotes his unmeritoriousness in God"s sight. This failure is total in that (a) it affects all aspects of man"s being, and (b) it affects all people." [2]
The statement that "there is none who seeks after God" ( Romans 3:11) means that no one seeks God without God prompting him or her to do so (cf. John 6:44-46). It does not mean that people are constitutionally incapable of seeking God. People can and should seek God ( Acts 17:26-27), and they are responsible for not doing so.
"Paul"s portrayal of the unrighteous person may seem overly pessimistic to many contemporaries. After all, do we not all know certain individuals who live rather exemplary lives apart from Christ? Certainly they do not fit the description just laid out. Although it may be true that many of our acquaintances are not as outwardly wicked as the litany would suggest, we must remember that they are also benefactors of a civilization deeply influenced by a pervasive Judeo-Christian ethic. Take away the beneficent influence of Christian social ethics and their social behavior would be considerably different." [1]
Romans 3:18 concludes the quotations by giving the root problem (cf. Romans 1:18-32).
"It is no kindness, but a terrible wrong, to hide from a criminal the sentence that must surely overtake him unless pardoned; for a physician to conceal from a patient a cancer that will destroy him unless quickly removed; for one acquainted with the hidden pitfalls of a path he beholds someone taking, not to warn him of his danger!" [4]
". . . this collection of OT quotations illustrates the various forms of sin, the undesirable characteristics of sinners, the effect of their action, and their attitude toward God. This is the same picture that Paul himself has been painting." [5]