Is Romans 3:9-20 talking about Christians or unbelievers?

[Daniel Marsh]

Is Romans 3:9-20 talking about Christians or unbelievers?

 

[Aussie Pete]

Is Romans 3:9-20 talking about Christians or unbelievers?

Unbelievers.

 

[renniks]

Is Romans 3:9-20 talking about Christians or unbelievers?

Non-believers. Paul borrows heavily from the OT, in this case Psalm 14:
The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

4 Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
they never call on the Lord.
5 But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.

7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

He's contrasting evildoers with God's chosen. That's us, if we are in Christ.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

Thanks for your replies.

 

[hedrick]

I think it’s pretty clear that it is about everyone. First, the issue in that part of Romans isn’t Christians vs unbelievers, but Jews vs Gentiles. Second, 3:9 indicates that it’s talking about both.

 

[GenemZ]

Is Romans 3:9-20 talking about Christians or unbelievers?

It appears written to specifically Paul's Gentile congregation. It was to show them that the Jews were not superior to them as they claimed to be.. That is, as long as the Gentile is walking in Christ.

For centuries before the church age began the Gentile nations had lived in what we would quickly term ..."moral degeneracy." The Jews during those years (the times when they chose to obey God) set an example of moral happiness and superiority that put the Gentiles to shame. Over the years the Jews developed a superiority complex and the Gentiles were made to feel inferior as human beings.

Yet.. As verses 10 through 18, reveals? The Jews when they disobeyed the Law? They could be just as raunchy a people as the Gentiles had been..


As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”


That was a declaration by Paul to his Gentile congregation members that no Jews could anymore claim to be the superior ones. Those verses showed that the Jews were not intrinsically a superior people when outside of doing God's will. That Jews by natural nature are no better than the Gentiles who were yet to know God.

But not all Gentiles were always morally depraved. For during the age of the Jews, for only short periods of time, there were revivals among Gentile peoples brought on by God. Like when Jonah was "dragged" to to Nineveh. For, the Ninevites were so horrifically violent and morally raunchy that Jonah desired to see them perish... until God intervened and forced Jonah to go preach to them.

grace and peace.........

 

[Knee V]

His point is that Jews and Gentiles are equally sinners, and that the Jewish believers are not inherently less sinful than the Gentile believers.