That Every Mouth May Be Shut Text: Romans 3:9-20
Introduction: The Great Equalizer
We live in an age that is obsessed with distinctions, grievances, and hierarchies of victimhood. Everyone wants to carve out a little space for themselves where they can claim to be "better than" someone else, whether through their morality, their suffering, their ethnicity, or their religious observance. The Apostle Paul, in this section of Romans, takes a sledgehammer to all of it. He has spent two and a half chapters demonstrating that the pagan world is lost in its idolatry and immorality, and that the Jewish world, despite its great privileges, is just as lost in its hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Now he brings it all to a head.
The question on the table is, "Are we better?" Are we Jews, with the covenants, the law, and the prophets, in a superior position? Paul's answer is an emphatic, "Not at all." This is the great leveling ground of the gospel. Before the cross of Jesus Christ, all the petty human distinctions we erect are revealed to be nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The ground is level at the foot of the cross because the ground is level in the graveyard of sin.
What Paul does here is absolutely essential for any true understanding of the gospel. He is not just making a point; he is shutting every mouth. He is revoking our license to boast. He is building a universal prison of sin so that the universal grace of God in Christ might be seen for what it is: not a reward for the religious, but a rescue for the dead. Paul is not just trying to make us feel bad about ourselves. He is trying to make us desperate for a righteousness that comes from outside ourselves. He is laying down a carpet bombing of Old Testament quotations to show that this is not some new, pessimistic idea of his. This is what God has been saying all along. This is the uniform testimony of Scripture. Until we see the depth of the diagnosis, we will never appreciate the glory of the cure.
The Text
What then? Are we better? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME WORTHLESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN TOMB, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.” Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law NO FLESH WILL BE JUSTIFIED IN HIS SIGHT, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
(Romans 3:9-20 LSB)
The Universal Indictment (v. 9-12)
Paul begins with a rhetorical question that cuts to the heart of all religious pride.
"What then? Are we better? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;" (Romans 3:9)
The "we" here refers to Paul and his fellow Jews. After detailing the privileges of the Jewish people at the beginning of the chapter, the natural temptation is to conclude that they are, in fact, better. Paul slams the door on that. "Not at all." The charge has already been laid, the evidence presented. Both Jews and Greeks, the entire human race, are "under sin." This is a powerful metaphor. Sin is not just an action we commit; it is a power, a tyrant, a slave master under whose dominion we are all born. It is a state of being before it is a series of actions.
To prove his point, Paul unleashes a torrent of quotations, primarily from the Psalms and Isaiah. He is not proof-texting; he is showing that the entire Old Testament bears witness to this reality. He is summoning the prophets as character witnesses against humanity.
"as it is written, 'THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME WORTHLESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.'" (Romans 3:10-12)
This is the doctrine of total depravity, or as I prefer, total inability. It does not mean that every man is as wicked as he could possibly be. Common grace prevents that. It does not mean that unbelievers cannot do things that are civilly good or outwardly kind. What it means is that sin has corrupted every part of our being: our mind, our will, our affections. Our spiritual compass is broken. There is "none righteous," not in God's eyes. Not one. This is a universal negative. There are no exceptions.
There is "none who understands." The mind is darkened. We cannot grasp spiritual truth on our own because we are at war with it. There is "none who seeks for God." This is a crucial point. Men may seek for religion, for spirituality, for a god of their own making. But no one, left to himself, seeks for the true and living God of the Bible. Why? Because the true God is holy, and we are not. We are fugitives. The last thing a fugitive wants is to run into a cop. So it is with us. God must seek us first.
"All have turned aside." This is the sin of Adam, replayed in every human heart. We have all taken our own path. "Together they have become worthless." The word means to be spoiled, like sour milk. Our rebellion has rendered us useless for our created purpose, which is to glorify God.
The Rotten Fruit (v. 13-18)
Having established the root of the problem, the internal corruption, Paul now describes the rotten fruit that this corruption inevitably produces. He gives us a graphic anatomy of the sinner, working from the inside out.
"'THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN TOMB, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,' 'THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS';" (Romans 3:13)
Our speech reveals our heart. Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Paul says the throat of the unregenerate man is an "open tomb." What comes out of a tomb? The stench of death and decay. Our words, apart from grace, are instruments of death. We use our tongues for deceit, for flattery, for slander. Under our lips is the "poison of asps," venom that destroys reputations and relationships.
"'WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS'; 'THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.'" (Romans 3:14-17)
From the throat and tongue, he moves to the mouth, which is filled with cursing and bitterness. Then to the feet. Man's rebellion is not static; it is active. Our feet run toward violence, whether it is the physical violence of murder or the spiritual violence of hatred and strife. The result of this path is always "destruction and misery." And because we are at war with God, we cannot know the "path of peace." There can be no peace with our fellow man because there is no peace with God.
"'THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.'" (Romans 3:18)
This is the foundation of it all. This is the root cause of the whole mess. Why is the throat an open tomb? Why are the feet swift to shed blood? Because there is no fear of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the lack of it is the beginning of all folly and wickedness. When man ceases to fear God, he will fear everything else: man, disease, economic collapse, meaninglessness. But he will not have the one fear that brings order and sanity to all of life.
The Purpose of the Law (v. 19-20)
Now Paul brings his argument to its devastating conclusion. He addresses the one group that might think they have an escape clause: those who have the law.
"Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God;" (Romans 3:19)
This is a brilliant move. The Jews might be tempted to think that this litany of Old Testament curses applies only to the godless Gentiles. Paul says, no, the law speaks to those who are "in the Law." It speaks to you. If the most privileged, law-keeping people on earth are condemned by that very law, then what hope is there for anyone else? The purpose of the law in this context is not to provide a ladder to God, but to shut every mouth. It is to remove all our excuses, all our self-justifications, and leave the entire world standing silent and "accountable to God."
The law is like a divine courtroom prosecutor. It presents the evidence of our sin so thoroughly that we have no defense. We can do nothing but plead guilty. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God.
"because by the works of the Law NO FLESH WILL BE JUSTIFIED IN HIS SIGHT, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:20)
Here is the verdict. "By the works of the Law NO FLESH WILL BE JUSTIFIED." This is one of the clearest statements of the doctrine of justification by faith alone in all of Scripture. No one, Jew or Gentile, religious or irreligious, can ever make themselves right with God by their own efforts. It is impossible. Why? Because the law was never given for that purpose. The law's function is not to justify, but to reveal sin. It is a mirror. A mirror can show you that your face is dirty, but you cannot wash your face with the mirror. The law shows us our sin, it diagnoses our terminal illness, but it provides no cure. It is a speed limit sign; it can tell you that you are speeding, but it cannot stop your car. The law drives us to despair of ourselves, and in doing so, it drives us to Christ.
The Only Hope
This is a bleak picture. Paul has systematically dismantled every human hope. He has shown us that we are corrupt in our nature, guilty in our actions, and helpless to save ourselves. Every mouth is shut. The whole world is guilty. So what now?
This is precisely where the gospel begins. The bad news is the necessary backdrop for the good news. You cannot appreciate the rescue until you understand that you are drowning. Paul has held our heads under the water of the law to show us that we cannot breathe on our own. He has locked us in the prison of our sin so that we might long for a liberator.
The law shuts every mouth so that we might finally be quiet enough to hear another word, a word of grace. The law makes the whole world accountable so that God can provide an account that is not our own. The law gives us the knowledge of sin so that we might seek the knowledge of a Savior.
This passage is not meant to leave us in despair, but to lead us to the end of ourselves. It is meant to make us cry out, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" And the answer, which Paul will unpack in the very next verse, is this: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" The law stops every mouth from boasting, so that every mouth might be opened in praise to the one who provides a righteousness apart from the law, the righteousness of God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.