Romans 3 continues and expands upon the theme begun in Romans 1 and 2, namely, the way in which both Jewish and non-Jewish people have fallen away from their God-given purpose and have become rebellious, confused, lost. Further, we have learned that God is not just a Creator but also a Judge, for the only way to maintain order and beauty and safety in the world is to identify and deal with evil and injustice. And in Romans 3 we are told conclusively just how bad the world really is.
Granted, I am stealing the title above from a similar one on Mark Driscoll’s myspace, but whatever - it is just about the most appropriate title I can think of to describe this portion of Romans 3. People do indeed suck, which is a fact that all of us can verify on a daily basis.
As an old English theologian once wrote in a letter to the editor of a magazine: “In response to your article entitled What’s Wrong With the World? - I am.”
It may not seem like an edifying study this week, so let me pose some questions to help guide your thought and meditation:
How would you explain the idea of sin to someone who’s never heard of it?
How might words like lostness, confusion, dysfunction, purposelessness, brokenness, instability, fear, depression, addiction, issues, problems, mistakes, shortcomings, etc., help you to explain it?
How do you experience sin? How do you process it? How does it make you feel? How does it bring you towards God, and how does it drive you away?
How is God speaking to you through this passage, and how in what areas might he want you to change and grow?
How important is your relationship with Jesus as you consider all of your problems and all the problems in the world? How does Jesus bring hope?
Note: The stop at verse 23 may seem arbitrary and weird, but I would like to focus this week specifically on the topic of sin and not so much on the topic of justification which is Paul’s clear interest in the rest of the chapter.
See you all Sunday!
