Humanity is plagued by sin. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, makes this point painfully clear. Apart from a miracle, our prognosis is hopeless. But the story doesn't end here. And today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl teaches from Romans chapter 3.
In this passage, we discover the same divine surgeon who diagnoses our desperate condition. Also provides the cure through his perfect love, boundless mercy, and transforming grace. If you missed yesterday's program, we'll begin with several minutes of helpful highlights. Chuck titled his message An Autopsy of Depravity.
Well, he puts himself in the sandals of his critic. The Pharisee and Paul was once one. The proud Jew, Paul was once one. And he raises three imaginary arguments that could come from the mind of a reader who is critical of what has been written. These arguments fall into three categories.
First, there's an argument of racial advantage. And second, there's an argument of divine faithfulness. And third, there's an argument of twisted logic. See each one of them unfold. Verses one and two.
Remember now, this is the imaginary thinking, the response of a critic. who hears what Paul says and And as a Jew who has been circumcised, Who has been a recipient of all of that tradition? He says, verse one: what then? Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?
Paul's answer is simple, great in every respect. First of all, or first and foremost, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. You're a Jew, you come from Jewish lineage, your background is in that race, you have had more light. than any other of the peoples of the earth. It was to you the Scriptures were given.
It was through you the Scriptures were to be shared. It was from you the Scriptures were to be taken and spread to the world of the lost. What advantage? Why, you have the oracles of God.
Now, how about Jewish unbelief? Verse 3. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? In other words, being a Jew and not a believing Jew, does that mean that the promises given to the Jews back in the days of the Old Testament are now nullified and forgotten?
Is God no longer faithful to His promises? Paul has a way of slamming his fist down on the desk as he writes with words like the beginning of verse four. May it never be. Absolutely not. Perish the thought.
The unbelief of the entire Jewish race will not in any way nullify the faithfulness of God. He keeps his promises. And when we get to chapters 9, 10, and 11, that will emerge and eloquently be declared by the Apostle. He waits till then to carry that out. But he puts it here in these words: Rather, let God be found true.
though every man be found a liar. As it is written, that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged.
Now, right now, those just seem like words on the page. But if you pause to remember Psalm 51, you'll recall its origin. The writer, turn back. The writer of Psalm 51 is David. And not only is that significant, but the timing of it.
Is significant. According to the superscription which appears at the base of the or at the very beginning of the title of the Psalm, Psalm 51, No. This is a psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone into Bathsheba.
So this is a Psalm of repentance. David has admitted his wrong. He has declared his guilt in adultery. And now he says, verse 4 of chapter 51: Against you, God, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Here is a Jewish king who has done what is wrong.
However, He steps back and says, That has nothing to do with your character. Look.
So that you are justified when you speak. And blameless when you judge. My wrong in no way makes you wrong. The darkness of my moon in no way casts a shadow on your character.
Now, back to Romans 3, you see the point. May it never be, even though the Jew may live in unbelief. God is still going to keep His word. The quantity of wrong. done does not in any way change God's promises.
And the extent of wrong. done does not cancel. God's promises. God is true to His name.
Now there's one more argument. Imaginary though it may be, it was one that was probably being used against Paul at the time. Put briefly, and I'll read it in a moment. Um Since my sin causes God to respond in goodness and grace to me, why not sin more? That's a sinner's favorite way of thinking.
If sin brings out the greatness of God, hey, live it up. And we'll know grace like we've never known before. Stop, says the apostle. Or verse six. Perished the thought.
What a ghastly thought. But first the argument, verse 5. If our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? I'm speaking in human terms.
May it never be. For otherwise, how would God judge the world? But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? If you take this logic all the way to the end, verse 8, why not say, as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say, let us do evil that good may come? First of all, sin never glorifies God who is holy.
never glorifies his justice. And second, it really does reveal how condemned we are. Look at the last sentence: their condemnation is just. It's Paul's way of simply saying in a few words. What I've said about the lost is more true than ever.
Anyone who thinks like that reveals how dark their dark side is. God is truthful. We are people of lies. God is faithful. We are unfaithful.
God is Is our only hope being just, and we are hopelessly lost. Think of it like this. We have a A root problem with depravity. It came from Adam. And that depravity, as it works its way out, reveals itself in sinfulness.
Think of them as dominoes sitting on the end. bumping up against the other and knocking it down. Depravity. creates the sin. The sin.
Bumps up against life and creates death. And as a result, we cannot unscramble the egg. Romans 5, verse 12. Just a little preview of coming attractions. If you're wearying of depravity, Let me show you the hope that's in front of us.
Romans 5:12, therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world. What's the name of that one man? Good for you, Adam. As in Adam's fall, We send all. Look at how it unfolds.
Through one man Sin entered into the world and death threatened. Through sin. Let me explain that. Had Adam not sinned, Adam would never have died. Adam and Eve would have lived on forever with their Creator God.
However, upon sinning, The root of depravity drove deeply into the human race. and it yielded the fruit. of sinfulness. Remember the dominoes? Depravity led to sin.
Sadden. led to death. Adam and Eve, at the moment of sinning, immediately died spiritually. Death is the concept of separation. They were separated from their Creator.
Their hearts that once loved God no longer loved God. Their minds that knew God no longer knew God. Their wills that once obey God no longer wished to obey God. They were depraved. as a result of the sin.
And as a result of the sin, Death. happened at the moment and began to happen physically. Dying, you will die. Says the Lord, when he makes his creatures in the garden, do not eat of the tree the day you eat of it dying. You will die.
You will be in a process of dying physically, but you will die at that moment spiritually. Back to Romans. Romans 5:12, through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
Now, when we get to Romans chapter 3 and verse 9, he asks the question: what then? What then? Are we better than they? Are we Jews better than those Gentiles? Are we Gentiles, these Greeks, better than those Jews?
Not at all. Not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks, and that's humanity. are all under sin. Paul is about to begin an autopsy. of a spiritual corpse.
Verse 10: There is none righteous, no, not one. By the way, I missed it. As it is written. You got me. I went too quickly.
We're now quoting from the Old Testament. As it is written. And Paul, in good rabbinical fashion, strings scripture together like jewels on a necklace. One scripture after another after another, that's why the font changes. in the text of your Bible.
Verses 10 through 18 are all in an unusual font because they are all. quoting from the scriptures. Yeah. Ancient scriptures. as he teaches this truth.
to New Testament saints. What scriptures? Ecclesiastes 7, Psalm 14, Psalm 53, Psalm 5, Psalm 140, Psalm 10, Isaiah 59, Proverbs 1, Psalm 36. All of these truths unearthed from the Old Testament, verifying that the autopsy being taken is a truthful one. Look at the cadaver, verse 10.
There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. Which will do a whole lot to uh Seeker service, wouldn't it? But that's another subject.
All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good. There is not even one. If he hasn't made his point clear by then, he decides he will underscore it by repeating.
Not even one. Twice all have gone their own way. Four times no one is righteous. Twice, not even one. Having established the fact that we're dealing with a corpse, Let's go into this ugly scene.
Four of the illustrations have to do with what he finds in the head. In the head. First. Their throat is an open grave. with their tongues.
They keep deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips. Her mouth is full of cursing. and bitterness, and we haven't even gotten below the neck. Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you that this is not the kind of passage a humanist will sit through.
In most gatherings held in public, most people would be leaving by now. Because to them that's insulting. To tell them that that is true of their lives. It is true of their Mr. Hyde life.
whether they admit it or not. We all have a dark side we don't want anybody to see. But it's there. If that isn't enough, now it works its way out into decisions. described in their feet are swift to shed blood.
Destruction and misery. or in their pads. The other evening, Cynthia and I were tuned in to the Discovery Channel and. I didn't know what was coming on, but I was captured by the stark. in production that showed a splash of blood.
And it was going to be an interview that a physician was taking. May have been a psychiatrist. I'm not sure what his role was, but a man was taking who was a professional, interviewing the worst people on earth. still living. who have been incarcerated.
It would take your breath away. The murdering of one life after another after another. The talking about it as if discussing a simple conversation with a friend. The absence of remorse, the brutality of the torture. the molestation and the strangling of little lives.
And on and on and on and on it goes, not a hint of remorse. Not a hint. As the program ended, it ended in silence. No music trail. Just more blood.
And I thought. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths. The paths of peace they have not known. Even accomplices that assisted them in the torture.
Simple thing is to think, well, I'm not That may add no. Please. Mr. Hyde is Mr. Hyde.
However, he may work himself out. Take away the restraint. Add a few psychological twists. Open the sore of depravity and let it run with its pus. and there you and I are.
The dark side we don't want anybody to know. about. Trans were sinners. We're sinners. Our lives would be marked by chaos and not peace.
Our path would not know peace. We would know only destruction and misery. And there is no fear of God before their eyes. You remember? the banner of the late sixties when the world went crazy.
And the establishment became the attack and assault of the. of the kids of the sixties. No fear. Exclamation point. Written on the sides of old VW buses.
Written in graffiti on the walls of the freeway. Written on schools of buildings and windows of cars. No fear, no fear. How audacious can you be? The apostle says that's the way it is.
And before their eyes there is no fear of God. In fact, the physician on one occasion in the interview mentioned the thought of answering to God and I thought the criminal, if there hadn't been something between him and them, he would have taken him on immediately. I mean you reacted. like a lion in a cage. What God?
And so the law stands. given by a holy God to a people who have lost their way. And the law speaks verse 19 to those under it That every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. Will you please let that say what it says? You will be, you are accountable to God.
I don't care if you're not a Christian. You are accountable to God. You did not make yourself. You are accountable to the one who made you. And being accountable to God, the law stands revealing His holiness.
so that every mouth is closed without excuse. And so that every person reading the law will understand, verse 20: by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. The law was never given. to save a life. The law was given to reveal the sinfulness of sin.
And if you wonder if you are really a sinner, read the law, just the Ten Commandments. Start there. Find one. That you haven't broken most of them multiple times. But one would be enough.
It's like how many pins does it take to burst the balloon? Luther got it right. The principal point of the law is not to make men better, but worse. That is to say. It shows them their sin.
That by the knowledge thereof they may be humbled, terrified, bruised, and broken. And by this means be driven to seek grace. and so come to that blessed seed that is Christ. He got it right. It's not good news.
Isn't it great that he doesn't leave us in our Blood guiltiness. Isn't it great that he doesn't say, shame on you? And walk away from us throughout eternity.
Now, he doesn't do that. Look at chapter 5, verse 17. He comes to our rescue. I can't wait to get there. I'm so sick of depravity, I can scream.
Look at Romans 5:17. Look at this. If by the transgression of one, that's Adam, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Christ, Jesus Christ. There it is. Adam, there's death.
Christ, there's life. Adam, there's darkness. Christ, there's light. In Adam there's depravity, in Christ there is hope beyond it all. In Adam, there's chaos.
In Christ, there is peace. It's like a Sin is the king. And death is the queen. And they reign over us. As if we are on the wall.
And if there's no one to put us together again, we are broken. helplessly broken. and lost.
So I've come up with my own. Humpty Dumpty verse. You won't find it in... the great oracles of English literature today. But it is mine originally.
Jesus Christ came to our wall. Jesus Christ died for our fall. He slew Queen Death. He crushed King Sin. Through grace.
He put us together again. Is that good, old boy? What? No, no, please, no, please. Real poets are walking out right now, you will notice as they are leaving.
The only solution to sin is a relationship with Jesus. who paid the complete penalty. Since there's nothing in you that could be paid, or could be used as a ransom. You're no great shakes. I'm no great shakes.
All I've got is a Mr. Hyde to give him. All I've got is the dark side of my moon, and that's the same for you. The only way I can be right with God is to be in His Son. And being in his son, I am as right as he.
Isn't that great? And the time to believe that is now. I'd like us to bow our heads. I don't know how to make it any clearer, and so I'll leave the Spirit of God to take what you've heard. And to keep you miserable until you finally find your rest in Christ.
Simple sinner's prayer works. You could pray something like, Lord, I I acknowledge that I am dark and lost and sinful. And that means that you and I have no relationship. But I believe Jesus paid it all for me.
So I take your gift. And hand in hand with him. By faith. I come to you, Heavenly Father. Thank you for saving my life.
Pray that today. Our Father, since we don't know a day, what a day would bring forth. And since we have no idea What your plan for us in this earth may be. as far as length of life, I pray that you would bring those who've never trusted in Jesus. to a wonderful relationship with him.
Begin a journey. Where the path of misery and bloodshed will be replaced. by a joy and a relief and a forgiveness. and even works of righteousness. brought on by your power.
enabled by your Spirit. Thank you, Father, for Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. We are complete in Him and He is all we need. We rest in him. I redeem her from sin.
Our hope beyond. Our Jekyll Hyde back. In the Savior's name we pray. Everybody is set. Amen.
This is Insight for Living. On Monday's program, and again today, we've been looking at Romans chapter 3 with our Bible teacher, Chuck Swindahl. he titled his message An Autopsy of Depravity. Whether you're a serious student of the Bible or a brand new Christian, the deep wisdom in Romans, when applied, is life-changing. We invite you to follow along every day with Chuck's study.
and to enhance the adventure by digging into this New Testament book on your own. To guide you in this process, we've prepared a special bundle of resources for this study in Romans. You can check it out right now by going to insight.org slash offer. In addition, Insight for Living is pleased to offer an electronic download that contains a special chapter on faith from Chuck's biography of Abraham. This is a PDF file that you can read on your computer or your mobile device.
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Tomorrow on Insight for Living. The preceding message, An Autopsy of Depravity, was copyrighted in 2006, 2010, and 2025. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide.
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