August 21, 2025 -- Romans 3:9-11 Are you amazed by grace?

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.

Romans 3:9-11 ESV

Paul is writing to the people belonging to Jesus who lived in Rome. Some thought Jews were better off, perhaps less in need of grace, than were non-Jewish people (Greeks or Gentiles). Oh, Paul’s not going to let anyone get away with that kind of thinking. All are people are under God’s wrath, guilty because of their sin.

Dr. M. Kruger, Charlotte RTS, noted there are three ways this text speaks of the pervasiveness of sin. That is total depravity for all who are not “in Christ”. NB: total depravity does not mean people are as sinful as they could be, but that sin infects every area of life.

·       First actions are corrupt; that no one can fulfil God’s righteous demands as they are contained in the Law.  People do not automatically act in ways that are honorable, noble, true or holy. In fact, just the opposite is true.

·       Second, minds are corrupt. No one understands. In fact, without the life-giving, light-giving work of the Holy Spirit, people remain darkened in their sins.

·       Third, the will is corrupt. No one, of their own accord, seeks God. Sure, there are people who claim to be “spiritual”, but all they’re doing is building a spirituality based on their own desires and ego. That has nothing to do with the way of God, the Blessed One, Whose Son is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Why mention all of this? Believers are to be taught, reminded and informed through their own studies of the Scripture of their utter wretchedness and the great grace God has poured out on them.

Amazing grace that is what the Holy Spirit applied such that sin-darkened minds are illuminated, lifelong sins and addictions are broken and the warped desires of the flesh are brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In Him, one’s sins are forgiven. In Him one is made new. In Christ one is adopted as a beloved son or daughter of the Living God. By one’s union to Christ the Holy Spirit changes the desires of the heart so that action, mind and will are directed toward Jesus and this to the glory of God. Believers still sin. They still fall down. But the good news is that they don’t stay down but are lifted once again into renewed holy service to God. Whatever mess we confess is blessed by the redeeming work of Jesus. The Father has punished our mess of sin at the cross of Jesus; the Father and the Son assure our blessedness by the sealing presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer.

Again, are you amazed by the grace of God? Are you thunderstruck with wonder at the grace God the Father has shown you? Are you welcoming other grace-drenched brothers and sisters in Christ? “Does your soul shout out: Who is like our God so gracious, so compassionate, so faithful in loving-kindness?!” Truly there is none, no other, like the God of Glory, rich in mercy, overflowing with compassion and faithful in showing covenant kindness to His people. Amen.

Blessed be Your Name, Father in heaven. Great and extravagant is the grace You have given in Jesus. Spirit of God fill our hearts, minds and mouths with the praise of God and so that endless thanksgiving flows from every part of our lives in acknowledgement of the new life that is ours in Christ. Spirit of the Living God, enlarge our capacity to receive others who, like us, having been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of Your Son, O God, are amazed by grace. Amen.

https://youtu.be/KKo3T0j9qqo?si=cDvF6DTa_W_NxYHD Amazing Grace - My Chains are Gone