The final part of Paul’s claim that all humans are under the power of sin is a scriptural argument based in a series of verses strung together. The NIV translates the key phrase as “under the power of sin,” although the Greek is simple “under sin” (ESV, ὑφʼ ἁμαρτίαν). Both Jew and Gentiles alike are under controlled by sin and therefore are under the righteous wrath of God. This would be deeply offensive to some Jews who read this letter (Byrne, Romans, 118)!
Listing scripture to make a point is a rabbinic style of teaching, sometimes called a catena (see for example, Steve Moyise, “The Catena of Romans 3:10-18,” ET 106 (1995): 367-370). The list has an intentional structure, beginning and ending with similar words (on one), and the internal structure, sins of speech are grouped in vv. 13-15, sins of violence are grouped in vv. 15-17 (Moo, Romans, 202). One problem with this list is that read in their original context, none of these verses actually say there are no righteous people at all. If the words “no one is righteous” come from Eccl 7:20, Kruse argues the comment is on the fate of both the wise and the foolish (Kruse, Romans, 167).
In fact, the rest of the verses are in a context which specifically distinguishes the righteous from the wicked. Psalm 5:9 is specifically talking about the wicked; the verse does not say there are righteous (in contrast to the wicked). In two citations wicked Jewish people are in mind, on two Gentiles are in mind, and in the others the reference is general.
What has Paul done with this list of Old Testament texts? He has selected a series of verses which indicate there were wicked people within Israel. The “wicked” in the texts are other Israelites, not the Gentile nations.
Is Paul out of step with Second Temple Judaism in this condemnation of Jewish sin? There are quite a few pessimistic texts in the Hebrew Bible (Isa 59:12-15; 64:5-12, Ezra 9:6-15; Neh 9:16-38, Dan 9:4-19) as well as other Second Temple writers (Tobit 3:1-6; Jub. 23:16-21; 4 Ezra 7:22-24; 1QH 1:25-27, 29-31, 1 QS 11:9-10).
Jubilees 23:16-17 And in this generation children will reproach their parents and their elders on account of sin, and on account of injustice, and on account of the words of their mouth, and on account of great evil which they will do, and on account of their forsaking the covenant which the LORD made between them and himself so that they might be careful and observe all of his commandments and his ordinances and all of his law without turning aside to the right or left. For they all did evil and every mouth speaks of sin and all of their deeds (are) polluted and abominable. And all of their ways (are) contamination and pollution and corruption.
1 QHa 1:25-27 (Sukenik Col. I; = 4Q432 2) How will a man count his sin? How will he defend his iniquities? How will an unjust respond to a just judgment? To you, you, God of knowledge, belong all the works of justice and the foundation of truth; but to the sons of Adam belongs the service of iniquity and the deeds of deception.
1QS 11:9-10 However, I belong to evil humankind, to the assembly of unfaithful flesh; my failings, my iniquities, my sins, {…} with the depravities of my heart, belong to the assembly of worms and of those who walk in darkness.
Paul is therefore in good company when he describes all humans, from idol-worshipping Gentiles to Jews who are making an effort to keep God’s law as sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. Like the Qumran community Paul would agree humans “belong to the assembly of worms and of those who walk in darkness.”
The modern world seems split on the issue. Some books and movies seem to present humans as flawed, but improving. Perhaps humans can grow (evolve) out of the evil that seems so prevalent today (as in Star Trek or Doctor Who). Humans will make the right choice they are given an opportunity and are generally good people. On the other hand, there vivid representations of the darker side of humanity. Humans are twisted and evil (Fargo, Pulp Fiction).
So which is it? Are we flawed but improving? Or are we deeply evil, just one circumstance away from shockingly evil actions?
How can modern Christianity express a biblical view of humanity to a world which does not considered itself flawed?
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Romans 3:10 specifically says that “there is not one righteous, not even one.” Paul is very point blank when he says this, leaving no wiggle room for the Jewish Christians who believe they are righteous because they follow the law. No one is righteous, period. Every person is flawed, but how flawed are they? Today’s society does not seem to think there is much wrong with humans, many people believe we are generally good. I disagree, because although humans do have the capacity to do good things, and they are a lot of people who seem generally good, that good appearance is marred by the sins they commit. The only person who was ever only good was Jesus Christ. Everyone else has cracks in there goodness because of sin. The best way I can think of to explain to a person who does not consider the world flawed would be me asking them what they feel is right and wrong. They will have examples of things that are wrong, and then I would ask if they themselves have done some of those things or if they knew someone who did those things. No matter how small the wrongdoing is, that was a flaw in someone’s judgment. People do bad things and there is no way around it.
You might want to change the typo so to no.
I think I meant so, but it was not really a necessary word so I deleted it. Unless you have another place in mind…
perhaps my misreading – I struggled momentarily 🙂
It was bad writing on my part. I appreciate your struggle!
The question of the universality of ‘none doing good’ is dependent on a larger impression of the canonical history than a catena of verses, but the catena is an effective summary of the thrust of human self-interest as a first motivation. Paul I expect is thoroughly read in the Hebrew scriptures. His opinion is not second hand with respect to the source texts. How then does the failure of the monarchy, the long prophetic criticism of Israel and Judah, and so on join into his individual expression of the experience as one of the Hebrew people?
Who is ‘the fool’ in Psalm 14? Senseless said in its heart, God? Nothing. – If God is of no account then there is no power for individual or people to escape from the dominion of sin. Paul’s good news in Romans is that the resurrection of Jesus gives such power through being conformed to the pattern of his death. There’s no magic in knowing this and proclaiming triumph, but there is magic in hearing and doing even silently in faithfulness to this invisible love.
The lovely word נבל (fool, senseless) also means a musical instrument. We can become sensible. We can even become tuneful.
The Bible and Paul specifically teaches that as fallen humans we have a “sin nature” (Ecc. 7:20, Rom. 3:23, Rom. 3:10). We are naturally sinful, but i would not say we are “evil” because we were made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-27, Ps. 8:3-8) and he called his creation “very good” (Gen. 1:31). God has not given up on humanity since the fall. He continues to bless us and redeem us, Matt. 5:48 says we are to be perfect, as our heavenly father is perfect. Eventually, sun will no longer overpower us and that is because of Christ’s sacrifice (Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:13-14, Isa. 65:17).
The biblical view of the human condition majorly opposes the culture we are in today. We live in an individualistic postmodern culture focused on self-fulfillment and doing what you personally feel is right. There is not universal truth. However Christians believe that what the bible teaches is true, and is ultimately universal truth. All truth is God’s truth. In order to get through to someone with a postmodernist worldview, they must first realize that they are sinful and need a redeemer. Paul takes that approach here in Romans, beginning by listing their many sins.
The entirety of Romans 3 is incredibly straight forward and blunt when it comes to describing our conditions as human beings. We are all sinners, walking in the opposite direction from Christ and no one is righteous. This is harsh. I cannot imagine how the Jewish people felt when they were told this because they were trying to follow the law and Jesus. No one every wants to hear that they are not doing something right, that they are bad and imperfect. Romans 3:9-20 as stated by Moo, covers the exact situation that all humans are under. Paul concludes his letter by stating that everyone is under the power of sin, he illustrates his indictment from the Old Testament and states that the law cannot save. Moo also states quite bluntly as did Paul that Jews are no better off than Gentiles (Moo, 1422). When looking at humanity today, it is hard to see ourselves as sinners and seriously flawed because society keeps telling us that we are good and seeking what is right. How do we compete with a culture that tells us the opposite of what Christ teaches? As Christians, how do we hold on to our morals and the truth when we are being pulled in so many other directions and we are the minority? Romans puts it simply, we are flawed and evil and we cannot become righteous or be forgiven without Christ. We can continue searching for other ways, people, and possessions to fill us and make us feel better and whole, but we will essentially end up in the very same place we were: broken, alone, guilt-driven, and hopeless. If anything, the book of Romans and especially chapter 3 gives us a blunt glimpse of how sinful we really are and we should take that as a wake up call and get our act together.
I like how the Romans textbook says that because the Israelites became aware of sin, when they did sin it became worse. In other words, knowledge of a sin makes the action worse than if you did not know it was a sin. Because the Israelites had the law there was no excuse for them to break the law. Wickedness is when someone knows what one should do, and does not do it. In this case both Jews and Gentiles could be wicked based on their circumstances. But then we realize that wickedness is not just about actions, but rather a condition that all humans have. We can have actions that are not wicked but it doesn’t matter because inside everyone there is the element of sin. Because we have the possibility of sin, there is wickedness in us. As humans we can grow in character and even be generally good people. But regardless of what we do we cannot remove sin from us. I think it could be implied that God could not remove the sin from us either, or otherwise it was not in his will to do so. God instead required something to take away his wrath, not humans sin. Jesus asks God that if it is His will then to let the cup pass away. Could God have taken away sin from man instead of Jesus turning away God’s wrath. The latter is the course that God’s will was. I think that wickedness is both evil actions, the opposite would be good actions that are done for God and are not wicked. And then there is a state of being, something which no human can correct. It is how we are, similar to genetics. It is passed down to everyone and nothing can be done except what has been, God’s wrath has been turned away and because of that we can be justified, but through no action of our own.
Humans, by nature, are flawed, but redeemable. We have tendencies to do wrong, but we also obtained redeemable qualities. God had to see something in us worth saving.
During the times of Noah, humans were extremely sinful. We were so sinful to the point that God made the decision to perform a mass destruction of humanity. But even during this massacre, God still found hope within the redeemable qualities inside humankind. God did not wipe the slate of humanity clean. He kept one family on the easel of life to repaint from. That, in itself, is mercy. And this mercy wasn’t given out of pity. Mercy was shown because God saw something worth redeeming in us.
This idea of “flawed but redeemable” is the route I would go when explaining the gospel to a person who doesn’t believe in the biblical view of humanity.
I would explain that morality in itself cannot lead a person to salvation. Morality is constantly changing. Morality does not hold to an instructions manual or a step by step booklet. Morality can be different from person to person; therefor, a person cannot conclude that being a “good person” will bring them salvation, because everyone’s view of goodness is different. Morality doesn’t hold to any standard, so who’s to know what true morality really is without a religious roadmap to follow?
Let’s continue to develop this line of reasoning. If morality is dependent on the individual, who’s to say if a person is truly wrong? If a person believes they are doing right, and their morality says that their actions are right, who are we to say that they are wrong? If Adolf Hitler claimed that his genocide of Jews was moral, then how could we say that he is immoral and without salvation? He believed that what he was doing was good, so in this line of logic, he was acting upon his morality, which leads him to being a “good person”, which then leads him into salvation.
That is why the Bible’s teaching of Human Depravity is so important. We, in ourselves, are flawed. We, in ourselves, are sinful. We, in ourselves, cannot be good or moral enough to bring us salvation. But, we, in ourselves, are redeemable.
And because of our redeemable qualities, God sent a perfect sacrifice to perfect our imperfectness. And through Christ’s bloodshed on the cross, we can be redeemed. We just have to accept the gracious gift, and rest in the fact that Jesus is God.
I am a person who really tries hard to make it a priority of mine to see the good in others no matter how annoying or evil someone may be. One could say that by doing so, I agree with the notion that humanity is messed up but is changing for the better. However, that is not so.
I see the good in others in order that I can build relationships with them in spite of certain things they have done that bother me. As soon as humanity sinned, the world started growing colder and darker drastically. In Genesis 11, the tower of Babel is written about. This was seen as an abomination to God because humans were disobeying the command given to Noah to populate the Earth. After this, God decided to confuse everyone participating in the tower, thus spreading humanity all over the Earth. God had to intervene so that humanity could progress the way He wanted it to. The world, without the guidance of God, is spiraling perpetually downward. Christians are not exempt of this either.
Christians can sin just as easily as the rest of the world does. However, the difference is that Christians have hope in their Savior returning to make everything perfect as He originally intended it to be. If we believe the scriptures as written, then humanity is unrighteous and has no hope in changing for the better. (Romans 3:11-18) A turn off to Christianity for many non-Christians is their observations of Christians behaving as though they are perfect human beings. To express a Christian worldview on this subject matter and not be ignored, then, Christians have to admit that they are just as screwed up as the rest of the world. (Romans 3:23)
I would not necessarily say that the majority of the world believes that the way they are is not messed up. By turning on the news, a non-Christian can view injustices going on throughout the world and feel something tugging at their heart strings. This is most likely due to “natural revelation”. (Moo, Romans, 39) This would not only be a good starting point to begin sharing the Christian understanding of this evil they are seeing. It would be a great spot to begin proclaiming the hope Christians have regardless of how the world behaves and acts.
I think many people think that we start out as innocent and pure, and that over time we become corrupted, or we overcome the temptations to be corrupted. It is a dangerous mindset, and I believe it is becoming harder to approach people about the sinful side of humanity. People these days do not want to be told they are sinners, people want to turn a blind eye to the dark-side of humanity. Even Christians such as myself occasionally joke about “joining the dark side,” or being on the “dark side,” which is an example of how infectious the idea that darkness is not as big of a deal as it once was. In seriousness, a real Christian understands that all are sinners, and all of us are unworthy of the grace of God. We Christians know that it is only thanks to Jesus that we are able to be redeemed for the sins we commit in our lives. Although everyone can see that people do bad things, many would prefer to believe in the lie that humanity is improving, that we are better than we used to be. Despite the increasing difficulty to convince secular people that they need saving, and that they are not as righteous as they think they are, it is important that we try and explain the necessity of God’s grace, and Jesus Christ. We need to be active in expressing justification and redemption to our fellow man, because if we continue to become more reserved, continue to step-back then there are a lot of people we will be partially responsible for on that day of judgement. However as I just said, we are able to be justified. As Moo mentions in chapter seven,”The Greeks used the word to refer to memorials or sacrifices that were intended to placate the wrath of gods, and Paul’s focus on God’s wrath in his description of the human dilemma…makes it likely that he references Christ as a means of propitiation,” (Moo, 68-69). Jesus became a propitiation for us. The fact that humans do not have to do any acts or works to get their salvation, that all they have to do is believe in Jesus and repent to Him their sins is what it takes, should be more appealing to people of this day, considering the laziness sweeping across the 21st century people. Although it is hard for us to admit our mistakes, I think that when one understands truly what is at stake and what Christianity is about, that it will place a seed, or a longing, in that person. Hopefully that is the case. All we can do is try our best to reach other people, because from Christ’s point of view, the more believers there are the merrier it is.
Your end question: How can modern Christianity express a biblical view of humanity to a world which does not considered itself flawed?
If Christians do not know the “biblical view of humanity” they cannot express the difference between the world and what the Spirit of YaHavah intended Christianity to be.
The word “Christ” means the anointed one. Jesus earned that title or epithet when he fulfilled Isaiah 11:1-5. All of the following references explain the anointing, its purpose, and the sequence of its fulfillment for Jesus and believers:
1. Psalm 110:4—Jesus was consecrated as High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrew 7:20-28)
2. Isaiah 11:1-2—Promised anointing of Jesus in the seven spirits of YaHavah
3. Daniel 9:24—Daniel prophesied the anointing of Jesus, identified by YaHavah through Daniel as the Holy one
4. Matthew 3:16-17—Fulfillment of the anointing represented by the descending dove and voice of YHVH.
5. John 3:5-8—Jesus told his disciples that one must be born again in the spirit to see the Kingdom of YHVH.
6. Revelation 5:6— 6—And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the Four Living Creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of YHVH sent forth into all the earth. (Acts 2:1-4; Isaiah 11:1) “The seven spirits sent forth” is the point to these verses. The seven spirits are how YaHavah teaches and cares for true believers. Read Proverbs 8:12-21.
7. Acts 2:1-4— The manifestation of the Comforter by the seven spirit anointing was evidenced by a wind in the upper room and flames over the heads of the disciples. One must be born again in the Spirit of YaHavah to see the Kingdom of YHVH. This anointing showed the first century world the difference between Christianity and the world. The pagans of that time called Paul a “god” because of the wisdom of his words to them, which he did not accept and put his life at risk. In the second century, Jesus was labeled as an incarnated god in Hellenistic pagan tradition and no one had the good sense to rebuke it. Jesus was born human. He had to be human to fulfill the Genesis 3 prophecy about him. The father of all humans is Adam and his sin is visited down on all humans, except one. His name is Jesus and his father is YaHavah. YaHavah is sinless, making Jesus sinless and totally free of Adam’s sin and death and worthy to pay the price for Adam’s sin. He was also worthy to receive the Book of Life from which he will judge all at the end. Everyone knows the Book of Life as the scroll with seven seals. The seals are lessons for us on how to remain in the Book of Life. But that too has been veiled over by the deceit of the “enchanter” of Genesis. We know him as the serpent, devil, and Satan.
The title of “Christian” implies the anointing of the Spirit of YaHavah in repentant believers. In 1Corinthians 2:16, the traditional translation is “But we have the mind of Christ.” Christ means anointed or consecrated to YHVH. In the case of being born again, the mind is consecrated in the Spirit of YHVH through Jesus Christ by YHVH. True born again persons have the seven spirits of YaHavah to protect them against the wiles and lies of the enchanter.
I hope this has been of some help to you and your readers.
“I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I’m tryin’, Ringo. I’m tryin’ real hard to be the shepherd.”
The entire concept of humanity and its sinful nature is both confusing and frustrating. We know that humanity is sinful and flawed ever since that moment in the garden (Gen. 3:6-7). It can appear that no individual is free from this cycle of sin. and despite a person’s best efforts we are doomed and trapped under that same sin. As Paul states, everyone is “under the power of sin” (Rom. 3:9). As a result of Adam and Eve’s initial sin, the entire human race is doomed for failure. We are called to flee from sin (1 Thess. 5:22), yet because of our human nature it appears impossible to remain sinless (Rom. 3:23). In a sense, God is calling us to achieve something that he knows is impossible. I believe that he does this so we can know our failures to understand our desperate need and dependence for him. For the most part, Christians do a pretty good job of knowing why we need God. We cannot live this life on our own because our belief in him requires a confession of sins and acknowledgement of our utter dependence on a Savior. It is our flaws, sins, and mistakes that push us closer to God.
This gets even more complicated when faced with a secular world that doesn’t understand its failures and therefore doesn’t see a need for a savior. The first step in showing someone who God is begins with creation and leads to the fall and why we need him. Understanding our imperfections is crucial to understanding the greatness and goodness of God. However, the fact that we are in bondage to our human nature does not give us an excuse. Pursuing righteousness is a daily battle that we must face because Christ has set us free from the bondage to sin (Rom. 6:18). On this earth we are faced with many limitations (Rom 6:19), but God offers a constant support, comfort, and strength that allows us to overcome. Teaching people that they are inerrantly flawed is one of the most difficult and essential roles in spreading the gospel message.
Reading through the book, Romans itself, and listening to the lectures I have just noticed how entitled the Jews are. Then going through this post and see that the letter in Romans 3 would be “deeply offensive” to them just irritated me. I look on that and almost get annoyed that they can’t even imagine that they could be put on the same level as a Gentile. It made me sit back and look at the church today and think to myself how many times Christians have looked at others or even one another like a Jew to a Gentile. Christians sometimes get this idea that since we know more about sin and salvation, that we are superior, and we end up looking just like the Jews. Moo points out in verse 10 “the key idea: “There is no one righteous, not even one”” (Moo, 59). Moo continues this idea with multiple verses from Old Testament that Paul uses to back up this same idea (Moo, 59). This point could not be any clearer that we are all on the same level no matter what we do. We are all under the same wrath because of sin. Just as the Jews had to come to this realization so must the people within the church.
The question of whether humanity is ‘flawed, but improving’, is very subjective, it sort of depends on a person’s backgrounds and belief system. But at the same time, all humanity is intuitively aware of the imperfectness of humanity, and the influence of evil force in this world. I personally believe all human beings are under sin as Paul describes, “the Power of Sin”, our intrinsic being is wicked and born of an evil seed, and knowing the love of Christ is the first step to improves ourselves. Coming to the question, I do think that although we are a flawed being, but is improving. When a person is born, the future of his/her behavior is shaped and molded by his/her environment. A person with a healthy environment seems to display a decent behavior compares to the one with a bad environment. Therefore, we can be improving by shaping and bringing a healthy system in our environments, communities, and societies. When we look at the history of humanity and its revolution, we can see a huge improvement in terms of morality, justice, and love. Is true to say that we would never be able to reach the peak of perfectness, but I do believe our past experienced will help us shape our personality, community, and society.
How can modern Christianity express a biblical view of humanity to a world which does not considered itself flawed?
This is truly a difficult question. How can we point out to a world that they are living in sin and the only way to be saved is through faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection – when the world denies everything about that statement. The world denies the presence of sin and its effect on people’s lives. The world denies being unable to save itself, and denies the need to even be saved. The world denies there being a God, and denies any authority or power of Jesus. Frankly, the unbelieving world isn’t examining itself and seeing a hopelessly corrupt society under the influence of sin. While there are certainly some people that are unbelievers that would agree that humanity is evil, I believe the majority of humanity thinks we are doing well and able to be good creatures.
For Christians, I believe that the first step is to recognize that how we live our lives speaks volumes to those around us. A lot of Christians I know, want to post on facebook and share their opinions and just get in arguments with people. But this isn’t what the unbelieving world needs. It needs people who are going to create relationships with people and genuinely love them, as Jesus would and through those relationships they can gain the opportunities to share the gospel. Showing people the gospel message through the way we live our lives is more important than being the person standing on the street corners yelling at people to repent. Our generation is not looking for that. Our generation is turned off by these types. Instead they are seeking people who are willing to love them on a deeper level because of their relationship with God.
I believe that we as humans are both flawed but improving and also are we deeply evil, just one circumstance away from shockingly evil actions. I say both because we all are for sure flawed but through the actions we make to try and live a righteous life and glorify God we are improving ourselves and becoming less flawed. But at the same time I can see that all humans are evil in someway or another all you have to do is push someone to their limits and all humans will snap and do something “evil”. Although this level of evil might be different levels the actions would still be evil. And for the question on how to express a biblical view to someone who doesn’t believe they are flawed I believe you have to begin by making them see their flaws. Much like when someone is having an bad addiction they first have to acknowledge they have a problem.
So which is it? Are we flawed but improving? Or are we deeply evil, just one circumstance away from shockingly evil actions?
I think that if we created a poll for everyone on this earth to answer we would have a 50/50 answer. This world is flawed but improving, and it is also just one circumstance away from shockingly evil actions. A great example of this is the worldwide pandemic we are living through and the injustices that happened during that time. In both of those circumstances, there were people that acted out in very evil ways, some understandable and others not so much. At the end of the day, in both situations, people come together, helped each other, had empathy for one another, and fought together. At least as long as I live on earth I think I will not know for sure which is the most accurate answer.
How can modern Christianity express a biblical view of humanity to a world which does not consider itself flawed?
The obvious answer would be to evangelize and to show what it is like to live and serve God. TTP explains that Pauls’ gospel caused confusion in accidentally ‘promoting’ immoral libertinism (TTP 183). I think this to be true for many Christians, including myself. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). Another angle to this question can be about embracing flawlessness. Something Christians are known for is judging, shutting down, and trying to change people. Many of those things being things we should be doing given the situation, but we do it in a way that gives us a bad reputation. Instead of telling the world, it is flawed like we have for centuries, we should be embracing that view and shift the perspective of the Glory of flawlessness to God. I think that taking a different approach with love, mercy, grace, and empathy can help us bring back humanity to this world.
In general, I think that sin is the biggest problem in this world. There is not one righteous person, and every person is flawed. In this generation, we commit sins every day, and sin is very powerful. Sin is evil, and it is hard to have a great relationship with God because of sin. There are so many Christians who accept Jesus as their savior, but they still commit sin, and it is hard to be perfect. One example is that the Bible tells us not to have sex before we marry, but a lot of people do that, including believers as well. Some Christian couples live in the same house before they marry, and I think it is also a sin that most Christian couples commit. Non-Christians and Christians are under sin, and we are all slaves to sin.
That’s why, in Romans 3, Paul explained to us that there has never been a truly righteous man apart from Jesus Christ. Even Adam, David, Abraham, or John were not righteous. As a human being, I believe that when we are not close to God, we are more likely to do evil things, and it is easy for us to commit sin. That’s why the Bible also tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul says that every part of man’s body, such as the throat, lips, mouth, feet, tongue, and eyes, is filled with sin and rebellion against God. In Romans 3:18, it says, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” We can say that when we commit sin, it shows we do not respect God and we do not fear God. Paul believed that God would judge both Jews and Gentiles for their sins. The world can get forgiveness and salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, but not through works.
We can see Paul’s assertion that all humans are under the power of sin, using a scriptural argument based on a series of verses. Paul argues that both Jews and Gentiles are controlled by sin, placing them under the righteous wrath of God, which might have been offensive to some Jews. Emphasizing sins of speech and violence, Paul uses a rabbinic teaching style stringing together verses, structurally beginning and ending with similar words. However, the original context of these verses doesn’t explicitly state that there are no righteous people at all. Paul seems to have selected verses that indicate the presence of wicked people within Israel. You then questions whether Paul’s condemnation of Jewish sin aligns with Second Temple Judaism, noting pessimistic texts in the Hebrew Bible and other Second Temple writings expressing a similar view of human sinfulness. Paul’s choice of verses finds resonance in these texts depicting the failings of both Israelites and Gentiles. You conclude by posing a question relevant to the modern world: Is humanity flawed but improving, or deeply evil with the potential for shockingly evil actions? This is reflected in different cultural representations, from narratives of human progress to portrayals of humanity’s darker side in movies like Fargo and Pulp Fiction. The challenge presented is how modern Christianity can convey a biblical view of humanity to a world that may not readily accept its flawed nature. This question prompts reflection on how Christian theology engages with contemporary perspectives on human nature and morality.
Hi, Ethan
I truly believe that everyone commits sin, and it is so hard to be righteous. Paul explained how Jews were committing sins against God, and sin is very powerful. Because of this sin, we cannot have a good relationship with God, and we have to stay away from God. God is so holy, so he has to be separate from sin, and sinners cannot live with God. Jews and Gentiles are sinful, and we are all sinners. Jesus is the only solution for this, and because of his death on the cross, all the sins we have are wiped away, and we become righteous because of his death on the cross. We are forgiven, and we can live with God once again.
The last question that Long asked made me think of a quote that I remembered from a Bible Project video. They said “If you want to what water is, then don’t ask a fish”. The water is the entire world the fish knows, and it is not until the fish is cast upon shore or out of the water that it realizes that the water is the main thing that allows it to live. I think we can see the comparison of a non-believer who does not see themselves as flawed. But this also just brings the importance of why we are to tell others about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t just look at the prostitutes, tax collectors, thieves, and hypocrites and call them sinful and flawed, he called all people sinful and flawed. One thing I do believe is that unsaved people recognize that their is “evil” in the world, and this is a foundation for we as followers of Christ to build upon to show and explain that we as humanity are “evil”. It’s a good question that Long asks, and an essential one to sharing the gospel as well.
The idea that we are all sinners is shown throughout the Bible and Paul’s teachings. We can see this in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, we were born into a sinful world and all have sinful natures. There are many sinful things in our world that surround us everyday. So many things that we might not even realize we are sinning. Going off your first question, I would say that we are all flawed and improving, not deeply evil. There may be non-believers out there that can do very many evil things, but we must remember that they too were made in the image of God, they just have not found Him. Going off of that idea, into your other question. There are many people out there who do evil things; murder, steal, cheat, etc., these people do not see themselves as flawed and do not think of their actions as sins, it is just their normal life and normal actions. They don’t see these flaws because they do not know Jesus. Which shows us how important it is for us believers to spread His word and help people find the Lord.