We Are Far Worse Than We Think… and God Is Far Better
As we come to Romans chapter 3:es 9-18, we come to a part of Paul’s argument that basically is a culmination of his case against all mankind and his case against anyone or anything that would boast in being worthy of God’s favor or standing and being declared righteous before God. We have already seen beginning in chapter 3 and verse 18 that he builds his case carefully in that chapter against the gentile world.
And beginning in chapter 2, he builds his case carefully against the Jewish world. And we come to chapter 3 and we are beginning to reach this crescendo. But as we reach this crescendo in chapter 3, it’s important to understand that we are now at a moment of great tension. That tension, however, is not relieved until next week.
But remember, the letter was meant to be read at a single sitting. But we come to the place of being laid low today. We come to the place of recognizing what it is that we actually deserve from God and what it is that we’ve been saved from. If we don’t get the doctrine of total depravity, total inability, if we don’t get the doctrine of man’s sin, by the way, not the doctrine of original sin.
We’ll get to that later on in chapter 5 when we talk about Adam and original sin. Now, we’re talking about total depravity and what that means or radical depravity as it is as it is sometimes referred to. Here are just a few implications of this doctrine. Why it’s important that we understand this doctrine rightly. One implication, for example, is the way we disciple our children or discipline our children.
If you disciple a child or discipline a child and don’t believe in the doctrine of total depravity, it will change the way you approach the discipline of that child. Secondly, the establishment even of civil government. There is a difference between the establishment of government among people who believe that man is basically good and the establishment of people who believe that man is a sinful creature and we must keep an eye on him through checks and balances determining guilt and/or punishment of criminals.
