There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God. (Romans 3:11)
A person of understanding will seek the LORD.
A person who seeks the Lord will receive understanding
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable (Romans 3:12)
Because a person does not seek the Lord such a person becomes unprofitable
There is none who does good, no, not one.(Romans 3:12)
Doing good comes out of knowing the Lord and not the other way round
Doing good does not make you know the Lord. Knowing the Lord makes you do good.
“Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” (Romans 3:13-14)
The above scriptures emphasize human speech—the throat, tongue, lips, and mouth. The connection between words and character is seen in Matthew 12:34: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” The sinner is spiritually dead by nature, therefore only death can come out of his mouth. (Ephesians 2:1–3)
However, there is hope in that the condemned mouth can become a converted mouth and acknowledge that “Jesus Christ is Lord” (Romans 10:9–10). “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37).
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways (Romans 3:15-16)
In the above scriptures, Apostle Paul pictured the sinner’s feet. Just as the sinner's words are deceitful, so also his ways are destructive.
The Christians’ feet are shod with the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), but the lost sinner brings death, destruction, and misery wherever he goes. These tragedies may not occur immediately, but they will come inevitably. The lost sinner is on the broad road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13–14); he needs to repent, trust Lord Jesus Christ, and get on the narrow road that leads to life.
And the way of peace they have not known.” (Romans 3:17)
The above scripture deals with the sinner’s mind: he does not know the way of God’s peace. This is the reason Lord Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44). The sinner is not interested in knowing God’s truth (Romans 1:21,25, 28); he prefers to believe satan’s lies. God’s way of peace is only through Lord Jesus Christ: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
“There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:18)
Romans 3:18 references Psalm 36:1, the sinner’s arrogant pride is prescribed: “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” In order to get the full picture, one must read the whole Psalm. The ignorance mentioned in Romans 3:17 is caused by the pride of verse 18, for it is “the fear of the Lord” that is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24)
Difference between Justification and Sanctification
Justification is an act, not a process.
There are no degrees of justification; each believer has the same right standing before God. Also, justification is something God does, not man. No sinner can justify himself before God. Most important, justification does not mean that God makes us righteous, but that He declares us righteous.
Justification is a legal matter. God puts the righteousness of Christ on our record in the place of our own sinfulness. And nobody can change this record.
Do not confuse justification and sanctification.
Sanctification is the process whereby God makes the believer more and more like Christ. Sanctification may change from day to day. Justification never changes. When the sinner trusts Christ, God declares him righteous, and that declaration will never be repealed. God looks at us and deals with us as though we had never sinned at all!
Chapters