Does Romans 3 Teach Total Depravity?

Does Romans 3 Teach Total Depravity?

Contra Total Depravity, part 3

Romans 3:9-18

What then? Are we better than they? 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 useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave,
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.”

Oftentimes, people will use Romans 3 to defend the doctrine of Total Depravity and mankind’s total inability, and their desire for only evil. But does it really teach that? Is it really saying that all of humanity only wants to do evil and does evil all the time, never does good, and never seeks after God, and is incapable of seeking God or doing any good?

If we look at the context of what is being said, it does not teach those things. The Apostle Paul’s point is that both Jews and Greeks are all “under sin” and they are all “under the law.” This is what leads him to quote the Psalms and Isaiah to say, “so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (v. 19). His concluding point from this is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (v. 23).

Paul’s overarching point is not hyperliteralism but rather, the fact that all are guilty under the judgement of the law and no one can attain the righteousness of God by the works of the law. The emphasis here is not on every single deed that they are doing or not doing but rather, everyone’s incapability of being perfect and therefore, all falling short, all being guilty, and all failing to measure up. They are all under sin. Meaning, sin is the controlling force or principle by which all humanity in general is under subjection and subdued by. We see this idea further explained in chapters 5-6 where since the beginning, sin has been a continuous and unbroken cycle. People are enslaved to sin and the text Paul quotes illustrates the universality and various ways in which people sin, but it is not intended to mean that every single individual in existence does those specific things listed. “None” does not mean absolutely no one in existence. It means that all are guilty. When he says, “none are righteous,” he means none are righteous according to the standard of the law since the law only has power to condemn and cannot justify anyone before God. The focus is on the guilt of every person, not the totality of the deeds of every person. He does not mean to say that none are actually righteous. Rather, Paul is emphasizing the guilt of every person under the law as “the law” is the subject on Paul’s mind here.

When he says that there are none who understands, none who seek after God, and none who do good, he is speaking similar to how James spoke about the law that “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). If you try to justify yourself on the basis of the law, you will come to discover that you have failed, and sin (no matter how small) makes one guilty and brings forth death. This is something that the Jews in James’ and Paul’s audience specifically needed to understand, that it did not matter whether they were circumcised or descendants from Abraham. By their sin, they became guilty before God and were as good as the heathen in that sense before God. Their guilt was equal before God even as the Gentiles were guilty for their sin who did not have the law, were not circumcised, were not descendants from Abraham, did not seek after God, and did not read or obey the law. In this way, the Jews were under sin and under the condemnation of the law just like the Gentiles and so were guilty as sinners and so they fell under that categorical condition of sinner, those who are typically known for evil, for not doing good, not understanding the things of God, and not seeking after God. And humanity is generally all these things described because people here or there have done them at one point or another. That is Paul’s point here.

Paul also wants to point out specifically to the Jews that just because they are descendants of Abraham, that does not automatically make them right before God. The Psalms are quoted to illustrate that point as David was speaking about other Israelites who had made themselves enemies of God through their sin even though they were of Israel. This further brings across Paul’s point that “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” and “he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter” (Ro 9:6; 2:29). Therefore, for the Jewish audience, they were not hearing Paul saying, “you guys do nothing but evil and it is impossible for you guys to do anything good at all or seek after God,” but rather, they would be thinking, “If David as an Israelite speaks of other Israelites being evil, rebellious, and unjust before God, then that means I myself as an Israelite could be those things. My right standing before God is not on the basis of being an Israelite. If God judged Israel in the past and they were condemned by God regardless of the fact that they were circumcised, then it is very possible that as an Israelite this could be my situation as well. My justification before God, therefore, cannot be on the basis of my privileged position as a Jew.”

Paul’s point is that “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (v. 20). If you want to be right before God and get to heaven, you need to be perfect but no one is perfect. Therefore, no one gets to heaven. That’s why we need God’s grace. No one can attain righteousness through the works of the law. All have sinned and fallen short. True righteousness is attained by faith, not by works.

In chapters 1-2 Paul points out that apart from the righteousness of God that is through faith, you are a sinner whether you have the law or not, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. Then in chapter 3, you see that yeah, apart from the righteousness of God, you are definitely a sinner and if you do not have the true righteousness of God then you’re screwed. That is what it is talking about—true righteousness—the kind needed to be saved. It is not talking about general good deeds.

Those who do not seek after God is the general description of lost people and the Gentiles who do not seek God because they are indifferent to the things of God because of their sin and idolatry. On the other hand, the Jews are described as seekers of God (Ro 10:20; 11:7). But even in their seeking after God, they have not found Him because “not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Ro 10:3). So even though they sought after God, it is as though they were not seeking after God because they sought after self-righteousness rather than God’s righteousness. In this way, there is none who understands, none who seeks after God, and they have altogether become useless. This is why Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mt 7:13-14). Here, Jesus shows that it is possible to still seek out and find the narrow gate that leads to life. It can be sought after and found according to the text, but not many enter it. Why? Because of sin and self-righteousness. The only way in is by grace through faith and most people do not have a humble and soft enough heart to accept that truth and to believe it. No one can find God except through the gospel. But all humanity in general does not seek after God because it is contrary to their nature. However, this does not mean that it is contrary to their ability.

Romans 3: Examining the quoted Bible passages

The passages quoted from Psalms and Isaiah are poetic and hyperbolic and therefore, cannot be taken literally. It cannot mean that it is impossible for anyone to ever seek after God. Otherwise, that would be a contradiction of all these other passages in Scripture that say it is possible (Acts 15:17; 17:26-27; Ps 32:6; Isa 55:6-7; 2 Chron 11:16; Heb 11:6). Neither is it saying that literally no one on earth is righteous or does any good because that would contradict the Bible every time it calls a person “righteous” or refers to Stephen as “a good man” (Acts 11:24). Even later in Romans, Paul speaks of someone who is a “good man” (Ro 5:7). For these reasons, it is important for us to apply the correct biblical hermeneutic. Otherwise, by inserting our own theological presuppositions into the text, we will make the Bible contradict itself.

Ps 14:1-3; 53:1-3; 5:9; 140:3; 10:7; Isa 59:7; Ps 36:1

Romans 3:10-12 is quoted from Psalm 14:1-3 and 53:1-3. In the following verses, the Psalmist speaks of “the workers of wickedness” and contrasts them with “my people.” And who are those people? “the righteous generation” (v. 5). So we do see that there are some who are righteous and so this cannot be speaking of all people without exception. But previously the Psalmist speaks of “no one who does good” and that “they are corrupt.” This is what Paul correlates to none who are righteous. But who is corrupt according to the context? The answer is those who are fools—those who have said in their heart, “there is no God.” Therefore, the Psalmist is specifically referring to those who have rejected God who are under this condition of corruption, of not doing good, being workers of wickedness, and separated from God. At the time in which the Psalmist wrote those words, that was the general description of all humanity and all the nations, especially considering that Israel was God’s covenant nation but it was only a very small portion of people compared to the rest of the world. Additionally, those who were not of Israel were destroying the people of Israel and in this way, were consuming them like eating bread. But if they truly understood who God was, then they would not be doing those things against Israel.

In Psalm 5:9; 140:3; 10:7 it speaks of the throat being an open grave, the tongue being deceptively flattering and serpent-like with poison under their lips, with a mouthful of curses, deceit, oppression, and mischief and wickedness coming out of their mouths. This is in reference to David’s enemies who were also God’s enemies and enemies of Israel. They were up to no good, only seeking to destroy Israel. Paul references these Psalms in Romans 3:13-14. It is a general description of those who reject God and live in wickedness. All kinds of evil may come out of their mouths and they cannot be trusted. Their throat being an “open grave” means that death and destruction are in their wake. Again, this is not a description of every single person to ever live but rather, various descriptions of the wickedness of humanity.

Isaiah 59:7 says, “Their feet run after evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths” (CSB). This passage is quoted in Romans 3:15-17 and instead of it being about the sinfulness of the Gentiles, this passage is about the sinfulness of the Jews. In verse 2 and 12 says, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” “For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us” (NASB). No doubt, Paul was using this passage to support his claim that “both Jews and Greeks are all under sin” (Ro 3:9). Specifically, he was referring to the Jews here. Since there is no partiality with God (2:11), the Jews were just as much guilty before God as the Gentiles were and were not exempt from God’s judgements on the basis of being Jews. Again, Paul is not saying that this is a description of every single person or every single Jew but rather, Paul was using this to give a general understanding that even Jews are under sin, under the law, and guilty before God. The things described were just the evils they were capable of.

In summary, Romans 3 is about universal guilt under sin and under the law so that all have fallen short of God’s righteousness and all are guilty. To stretch this passage to mean universal incapability would be to stretch the passage beyond its original meaning, cause biblical contradictions, ignore the message Paul intended, and to make non-literal hyperbolic language into something literal. Therefore, this passage cannot be rationally or soundly concluded to mean the universal incapability of Total Depravity and nor does it teach the nature of humanity being only evil exclusively.