Romans 3:9-20

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Paul, speaking to his imaginary Jewish interlocutor, makes his point again:

Just being Jewish doesn’t count for anything, because both Jews and Gentiles are sinful and need to be saved.

Then, Paul quotes from the Old Testament—mainly the Psalms—to emphasize the point he made above—people are sinful—and to show that this idea isn’t original with him but is in fact what the Bible has already been teaching.

Again, just because the Jews have the Law doesn’t mean that they are better than other people. In fact, the Law proves just how sinful they are by showing clearly that they are not abiding by it nor keeping its terms:

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. [3:19-20]

Paul is continuing to make his case about how sinful all of humanity it, so he can show just how amazing is the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

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