Total Depravity and True Hope (Rom. 3:1-20)
July 27th, 2025
Total Depravity and True Hope (Rom. 3:1-20)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” May the grace and the blessing of God’s Word that is unprecedented and never-repeated be upon you today. The title of today’s message is, “Total Depravity and True Hope.”
This passage we read is the Word God is giving to Rome through the Apostle Paul, and Rome is the superpower nation and the empire ruling over the world at that time. Through Rome and the Roman churches, God is telling us what human beings are like. If there are any of you who are discouraged or let down because you’ve put your hope in people, may you receive the answer through today’s accurate Word; otherwise, you will not even know who you are. We only know what we know; we don’t even know who we ourselves are. Because I see myself incorrectly, I go back and forth, thinking, “I can do this,” or, “I cannot do this.”
Paul knows that world evangelization has to take place through the most powerful nation, Rome, so he is telling the Roman church what human beings are like. In Romans 1, Paul says, all human beings have received a conscience and the ability to know God by looking at nature; yet, they still do not know God and do not want to know God, and that is why they receive God’s judgment. That’s the reason why while the Gentiles were under God’s judgment, Rom. 2 was about the Jews; they received the Law, they received the Word of God and all the good things, yet they still did not believe. That’s why they were judged. They followed the circumcision but their hearts were not circumcised, and in response to that, Romans 3:1-8 is the Jewish person’s rebuttal against Paul’s words. It’s possible that, among you listening, there are some of you who would like to argue with God, but in reality, you’re only debating with God because you don’t know God, and you’re debating with God because you do not know who you yourselves are.
1. Jews
1) Advantage
(1) Entrusted with God’s word (Rom. 3:2)
How did the Jewish people argue with God? In Romans 3:1, it says, “Is it no better being a Jew?” Yes, it is. What is better? First, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God, then what exactly is the Word of God?
(2) Law
That is called “the Law.” There is a difference between the Law and legalism. The Law is God’s Word, and through the Law, we know God’s will and plan, but somebody who is legalistic is centered on the law and they move everything according to the Law. They even believe that salvation is gained by observing the Law; that is legalism. They say, “If you keep the Law, you will be blessed,” but what is the role of the Law? The reason God gave us the Law is to know who we are. We don’t know who we are, the only thing we know about ourselves is one physical portion. You don’t even know what kind of diseases are inside your body right now, you don’t know anything going on with you; you shouldn’t say you know who you are. There might be cancer cells forming in your body as we speak, but you don’t even know that. You don’t even know your own heart or emotions. However, if we get an MRI or some kind of examination, we can see what’s going on with our body. In the same way, when we examine ourselves through the law, we can see who we are. So, if we don’t have God’s Law, we don’t know who we are. The Law without a doubt is a good thing because it’s God’s Word. We cannot know God but through His Law, we can. “We must only believe in God, we must not worship idols, we must worship only God,” now we can know what kind of God He is. “Oh, He wants us to love people, that’s God’s will.” If we don’t have that, then we cannot know God or how to live our lives, but when we look at the law carefully, we realize, we cannot follow all of them, then we realize we are sinners.
(3) Gospel – Messiah has come
What is sin? If we do not follow God’s Word, that is sin. Not believing in God is a sin. Not being able to live according to the Law God gave us is a sin, then there is not a single person who can live like that; that’s why we are all sinners. God has opened the way of salvation for sinners, we call that, “The Gospel.”
2) Sin of the Jews
(1) Did not believe the law or the Gospel (Rom. 3:3)
That is why the Word of the Law and the gospel has been entrusted to the Jews. That is their special right because they were entrusted with it first. But whatever they were entrusted with, they used it to elevate themselves and to look down on others, so they used it for their own benefit. “I received this law from God, you don’t even know it, do you? That’s why you are like Gentiles, like pigs and dogs. God has only chosen us.” They didn’t even really believe in the law or try to understand or follow the law; they only used it as an instrument for their own exaltation. If we’ve been entrusted with the law, we must relay the law. God did not give them His Word because they did something good; God just called them first. But they say the same thing that long-time believers say. There are some people who say, “We’ve been Christian believers for many generations.” Do not use that grace of God to boast of yourself. If you’ve received it, then use it to relay to others. You don’t even relay that to others, you don’t even believe in God’s grace yourself, you only use it to reveal yourself. “Oh, our church has been around for hundreds of years,” okay that’s great but are you relaying the gospel into the world? You don’t believe it, you don’t really follow it; you just use it to brag.
(2) Enjoyed the privilege
(3) Criticized the Gentiles
3) God’s faithfulness (Rom. 3:3)
(1) Unfaithfulness cannot nullify (Rom. 3:3)
In response to that, Paul says in Romans 3:3, “Okay, so fine, what if you don’t believe? If you are unfaithful, does that stop the work of God? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? No, God Himself is faith. We do not have faith in ourselves. God Himself is faith, He is faithfulness, and He is giving us His Faithfulness as grace We cannot have faith come from us; we’re sinners. But God Himself is faithfulness, so that’s why He carries out His covenant on his own.” He said, ”Okay, you don’t believe? Then pass.” God even says, “I will raise up the Gentiles and carry out my covenant.” But there are some people who say, “Let’s say if you guys can get by without me,” and without you, God can even raise up stones to do the work, but this is the logic the Jewish people fought back against God with. Are there any of you who want to fight back against God inside of your heart? That’s normal in one sense, that’s why we need God’s grace. “God, why do you keep bringing disease upon my family? God, why do you keep bringing us poverty? God, why do you keep bringing mental problems in my family?” Do you know who you are? Do you know who God is? If this becomes an opportunity for you to know that, it’s a blessing.
Do you know why you ask those questions? It is because you are your own god, it’s because deep in your heart, you are your own god and the god you are praying to is an entity who needs to help you. “That’s not the true God, I am.” That’s why we have so many complaints welling up inside you. I’ve lived my walk of faith for so long, what is going on here? There’s nothing working out well for my family or for my kids, and if I look at myself, I don’t see anything going well either, and I can’t even say this out loud because I feel like God is going to smite me, so I keep this welling up.” Are there any of you who are like that? I believe most of you do have that in your heart, some of you may think, “Not me,” but I think you’re lying to yourself then, because if you continue to read the Bible, it says we are exactly the same way.
How can we get rid of that? How can we clean that up? As we read through the Word of God, I believe it will go away on its own.
(2) God keeps the covenant
(3) Human is a liar, God is true (Rom. 3:4)
Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” Human beings are liars. “I’ve never lied my whole life,” maybe you’ve never told a physical lie, but you’re lying to yourself. You lie all the time by pretending to like somebody you don’t. And you hide your emotions. You want to kill that person but you lie and say you don’t, so you are a liar as well. Only God is true. So, where is Paul taking us? He’s saying, “It’s not us, only God is true.” And the Jewish people must kneel down before that. If you place even 0.1% of faith in yourself, that is why you suffer. Because you place even a little bit of hope or expectation on yourself or on people, that’s why you fight back against God. You’re fighting back against God with the logic or knowledge you learned from the world.
2. Excuses of the Jews and the Roman church members
1) Jew’s unrighteousness
(1) Brings out God’s righteousness (Rom. 3:5)
(2) My falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness (Rom. 3:7)
(3) God who brings down wrath is unrighteous, condemnation (Rom. 3:7)
In Rom. 3:5, the Jewish people say, “Fine, but if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness, shouldn’t we be rewarded for our unrighteousness? Why are you cursing us; you should be blessing us instead.” That is the knowledge that the Romans learned from their academics, but they’re fighting back against God. If you try to understand God with your logic, this is what you will be like, with your logic, you might be able to make sense of the physical world, but you will not understand God, because if your logic is your standard, it means you are your standard, because it means that everything has to align with my sense of logic, that in itself means you do not know you are a sinner. Listen to the things that you complained about? Why are you doing this to me?” You’re saying that because you don’t know who you are and you don’t know Who God is. God is a good God and whatever is happening is the greatest and blessed for you, but why do we complain and resent so much? Because I’ve already designed the life that I want; if I’m a Christian, I should live like this, I should at least be this kind of entity, but the Bible tells us there is nothing worth hoping for in us. The Bible tells us there is not one thing good inside of us. That is where we must begin. If you understand this by God’s grace, then the questions that you have, the suffering you’re holding onto will go away. An example of someone who uses this logic might say, “Judas Iscariot sold Jesus Christ, and that is how Jesus was crucified,” and because Jesus was crucified, all of mankind was saved, then what did these Jews say? Judas Iscariot should be rewarded then, why is he being judged? It’s because of my unrighteousness, the righteousness of Christ was revealed, then you should be rewarding me, why are you judging me?” That’s a crazy person but they don’t know that they’re crazy. They’re trapped in their own logic, they are their own god. God says, “I already knew you would sell me, that is true,” and it is true that, by betraying Jesus, He was crucified, but because you did unrighteous things, you must be judged for that. That’s God’s response. “Why did You make me born into this family, God? Why did you make me immigrate here? Why did you put my kids into this school and make them fall into addiction?” We keep on complaining to God, so as we continue to read, I hope you will realize who you are.
2) Roman church members and all people
(1 Under sin (Rom. 3:9)
God says that all men are liars and that God is true. Then, what were the Roman church people like? That’s in Romans 3:9 where he says, “The churchgoers aren’t any better than the Gentiles. “ You have to open your eyes to see this, “Yes, I am a believer of Jesus Christ, but my spiritual state is exactly like a nonbeliever’s.” But we keep falling under a misconception that, now that I believe in Jesus Christ, my fundamental state is different. Every single human being is trapped under sin. You cannot obey the Law, so you are under original sin, so whether you accept that or not, if you tell a nonbeliever they’re a sinner, they’ll be offended. They say, “Why am I a sinner?” As evidence that you’re a sinner, you’ll die because the result of sin is death. That’s why you die, you don’t want to die, do you? You want to live forever. But you are already dead because of sin. That’s why you are shaking in the fear of death because you’re a sinner. The sin that nonbelievers talk about is, “What did I do wrong, morally or ethnically?” but already from the moment you were born, you had original sin so you are racing towards death, but there is only one way to overcome death. There is no other way to overcome death than for eternal life to enter into me. Whether you keep the Law well or not, we are the same. Even Christians are the same, because your fundamental nature or natural state is the same, so don’t misunderstand. You think that this person might be better because he is a pastor or church officer? We are fundamentally all the same. Why do people get disappointed by pastors, or elders, or church leaders? Because you are making the wrong judgments about people. People think, “If they believe in Jesus Christ, shouldn’t they be better?” But fundamentally we are already gone. Whatever might be a little bit better is that moment when the Spirit of Christ is inside of that person, that is the only thing that is better; fundamentally, they are all the same. This is the Word God gives us.
“What about my family?” That’s not the reason we believe the only one we can believe in is God alone. The fact that you had hope in someone else means you saw them wrong. Then how can you love people? You’ll only see the potential in that person because you see the God inside of them. Every human is totally depraved, the only hope is in the Triune God alone. Then he says, “Shall I give you an example?” That’s in Rom. 3:10 onwards. He says, “No one righteous, not even one, there’s not a single person who is righteous in God’s eyes.
What about a newborn baby? Even they were born under original sin, so they are already dead, but the baby has no sin? They were born in a state of original sin so death enters. If you don’t have original sin, then you live forever, but people don’t surrender to that fact, they say, ”What sin could a baby have? What wrong did they do?” And people say, “As I live my life, I never hurt anybody, I never borrow money from anybody, so why are you making my family suffer like this?” so they place the goodness of their surface on themselves but you are not righteous.
(2) No one righteous, no one who understands, no one who seeks God (Rom. 3:10-11)
(3) Turned away and worthless, does not do good (Rom. 3:12)
There’s no one who understands, there’s no one who seeks God. “Oh, but I do realize,” the Holy Spirit of God has revealed something to you. You didn’t realize this on your own because you’re so great, God gave you His Holy Spirit with His grace to understand. In Romans 3:20 it says, “There is no one who seeks God,” but they say, “No, I seek God, I came to church on my own two feet.” Do you think that’s what happened? God dragged you here. Today in your heart, you felt, “I have to worship God,” but your natural state rejects God. “All have turned away and they have altogether become unrighteous. Because they don’t know the true God, they’re bound to turn away, left and right, and that is why those who gather to the left, all gather together into one group. For example, they might be gathering towards democracy or communism, either way they are turning left or right, why? Because they cannot follow the Word of God correctly. There is no one who does good, not even one. The only thing that is good in God’s eyes is following the Word, but no one does that. “Oh, but I was following the Word of God well throughout the week?” That was God giving you that grace. Your natural state has none of that. That is the moment when God gives you grace. What is worship today? Realizing there is nothing good that can come from your natural state. Worship is saying to God, “I can only love if You pour upon me Your power, grace, wisdom, and love.” That is worship.
(4) Throat – open graves, tongues – deceit, lips – poison of vipers
It says here, “Their throats are open graves.” For Jewish people, their grave is a cave they roll the heavy stone over, after they put their corpses in, and here it says, “An open grave,” meaning the smell of death is reeking out of their mouths. We’re dead, we’re alive but we’re also dead. Yes, you might be momentarily alive in this world, but you ate this morning, right? That’s one meal closer to death. We face death because of Original Sin. So, what does it mean? Their throats are open graves? It means death is welling up inside of us, we reek of death. “Their tongues practice deceit and the poison of vipers is on their lips.” Everything they speak from their lips are poisoned to kill. “I was never like that,” but really, you speak for your own benefit. You don’t speak to give God’s Word. If you did speak God’s Word, that was by God’s grace. But the foundation of who you are, you speak poison to kill other people to get what you want. We speak with our tongues and our lips and every time we do that, we’re deceiving people because we are talking with ourselves as god. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, and some people think that there’s some Buddha who is wise. Some people think that there’s some great philosopher who has words of wisdom. Some people think, “That person’s come to church for such a long time, they must be better,” but the Bible says they cannot, there’s nothing good. Then why do people go to church at all? Because the true hope is only with God, only when God’s true love is poured out into us can we even act like we love.
When God’s power comes upon us, that is what we need to live. This is what it means that humans are the image of God. It means that we’re the image of God created by God, and for God, and everything we get is through God. How dare you live to yourself as if you’re gotten anything from yourself? You say, “Oh, I’ve always been good at this,” that was a lie. This has been given to you from God, so why don’t you say that correctly? You may judge somebody else, “That person has no hope,” as if you do have hope? So you’re lying. There is no hope in anyone. There are some people who think, “Oh, my family is really smart, I’m really just naturally smart.” That’s a lie, that wisdom is from God, God gave you that wisdom, and God gave you that wisdom to use it for God. But instead, you use it to elevate yourself and set yourself apart from others. There are some people who say, “I was just always born beautiful,” but did you make your face? God gave you your appearance; then, try praying to God, and that’s what happened in the Old Testament, she was so beautiful she was chosen to be Miss Persia. That’s how she became the queen. But what if someone says, “I’ve always been beautiful. Even my genetics are different, I’m better than other people from birth.” Do you know why God gave you that? Mordecai said, “God has given you this position so you can save the Israelites at a time like this. That’s why God made her the Persian queen. We do not boast of it ourselves, God gave it for His goal. Only God is good. Only God is love. God’s love must be poured into us for us to even pretend we love others. The only love that can come from us is a selfish love. But we keep denying that. We deny who we are. So you’re deceiving yourself. Because you’re looking at this world with something that is false, that’s why it is hard.
(5) Mouth – cursing and bitterness, feet – shed blood (Rom. 3:14-15)
Rom. 3:15 says their feet are swift to shed blood. It’s not just about their feet, it means their actions, where they’re quick to kill people. That’s our human nature, we’re very quick to act, to bring people down, but I believe that by God’s grace, our footsteps will be used to spread the gospel and save people. “Oh, why can’t I just enjoy the gospel by myself? Why do I have to spread this to others?” That’s a normal reaction, that’s how depraved we are. That’s why you must receive God’s grace for your footsteps to save.
You know the prophet Jonah, right? God told him to proclaim the gospel to Ninevah, but Jonah said no. He said, “It’s easy to proclaim the gospel to people that I like, but I don’t want to give the gospel to someone I hate,” so even when doing God’s word, we keep putting these conditions. “I only want to go to that person if we have chemistry together,” that’s normal, that’s human, and that’s why we have no hope. No matter how much we try to do it, it’s always conditional, that’s why if you know who you really are, you will look only for God.
(6) Ruin, misery, don’t know way of peace (Rom. 3:16-17)
Rom. 3:16 says, “Ruin and misery mark their ways.” Why do people face ruin and misery? Because they’re separated from God; they don’t know the way of peace. If you just knew that only the Triune God is true and only He is good, then you will have true peace and freedom. There is no fear of God before their eyes. It means they don’t stand before the absoluteness of God. They think, “All I have to do is trick people,” and they think, “When no one is watching, I can do whatever I want.” It means they don’t have a fear of God. That is human nature, that is why, totally and completely, it cannot be us, and God is persuading us now. If you are persuaded by God, you will place all of your hope in God alone, but there are some people who refuse to be persuaded, even until the end. Then, their path will be marked with misery and ruin.
(7) No fear of God before their eyes (Rom. 3:18)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, there is only one way.
3. Only one way
1) Law
(1) No one righteous by the works of the law (Rom. 3:20)
(2) Conscious of our sins (Rom. 3:20)
(3) Under God’s judgment (Rom. 3:19)
There is only one way in the world, how did you receive the gospel? If you receive the gospel with even one percent hope that you might be okay, then you did not receive only the gospel. If you think, “A lot of parts of me are okay, but I have this suffering, that’s why I need the gospel, then you will continue to suffer. By God’s true grace, I must confess, “I am really nothing. Anything I have or have done, it came to me by the goodness of God, it did not come from me. And I was a sinner who lived without knowing this. I was a slave to Satan the liar my whole life.
2) Jesus Christ
(1) Faith – Righteous
(2) Holy Spirit – Give the word to our thoughts, heart (Jn. 14:26-27)
(3) God’s absolute sovereignty – Environment, location, time, condition
This is the Jesus Christ I accept as my Lord and Savior.” We call this “acceptance” and “Faith.” That is the person who has the correct start. If you didn’t have the correct start, it means you’ve got the gospel, but you still think there are a lot of good things about you. You still want to live a righteous life on your own, you’re lying. Who’s lying? Satan, the father of lies, your father, that’s why the devil keeps on using that lie. Then ruin and misery, there’s nothing good at all in me. That is when we must begin. That’s why humans are completely depraved, completely corrupted. Did I believe that by my faith? No, God gave His grace to believe in this one portion. That’s how I realized I was a sinner, that is how I realized the cross of Christ.
We will realize that God is truly love because He himself became His creation, was spat on and mocked and suffered and died on the cross to save us, then how will I live going forward? If I acknowledge that, fundamentally, there’s nothing good in me, how could I live? If I know that every thought I have is only rejecting God, then how can I live? That’s why God promised to give us the Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us of the words of Jesus Christ in our hearts. Without this, all of our thoughts go in the opposite direction of God. Then even if we have received salvation, we have no choice than to fight, compete, and take sides. So, you shouldn’t fall into the misconception that you’re a child of God now, so you’re fundamentally different. You received salvation by God’s grace, but you are the same. That’s why we must rely on the Holy Spirit only. Can you rely on the Holy Spirit? You can only do that if you know who you are. You need to know Who God is in order to acknowledge His absolute sovereignty. “God, why did you give this to me?” That means you have some kind of standard in yourself. God is good, and He keeps on giving me what is good. But we keep on complaining, “Why did you give me this disease? Why did you give this to me?” Is God unfair? God gives you what’s good, so acknowledge God’s absolute sovereignty and pray.
3) God is Lord
(1) Acknowledge God’s goodness (Rom. 8:28)
(2) Entrust my today and tomorrow (Mt. 6:34)
(3) Answer of the word – Relay
You’ll realize, this is the greatest day. That’s why Paul was able to praise God even in prison and even while facing death, because he discovered this. Only God is absolute, there is nothing that is absolute in America or the world. That’s why faith does not go in. Inside of us, the absoluteness of the Triune God must begin. That is where our thoughts and actions must begin. But instead, you place the basis on yourself, so you suffer. Even though you do believe in God, you don’t believe in asking God. You have to acknowledge God’s absolute sovereignty and ask Him why He allowed you to worship here in this location, “Why was I born in this age? Why did I immigrate to this location? it might look like I’m the one who did this, it’s not. It happened in God’s absolute sovereignty. Your prayer begins by acknowledging His absolute sovereignty. Praying is hard, isn’t it? Because it’s based on you, so you only pray when you need something because you don’t know God.
God is absolutely sovereign. All of creation is moving through Him. “God, why do I have to meet with this person today?” If you acknowledge God’s absolute sovereignty and pray, you will see His answer. “In this situation, in this problem, what is God’s will, what is your plan, Lord?” Then He will answer you. Then, we are bound to keep receiving answers to prayers, but if you’re not able to pray, it’s because you keep basing prayer on your needs, so if you need something, you pray, and if you don’t need something, you don’t pray, but the Triune God is my Lord. Today’s suffering is made for today, there’s no reason for you to take on more. Leave tomorrow’s worries for tomorrow, don’t take them on yourself, why do you keep basing everything off of yourself as if you can control anything? That will only lead to worry. When this Word of God is relayed to you as the answer, you’re bound to relay that to others. This is the way of grace God gives us.
Conclusion
1. Don’t place my hope, value in me
In conclusion, you must never place the value or hope in yourself or people. The more you hope in people, the more you will suffer.
2. Stake everything on God’s word
Second, stake everything on God’s Word because that is our only hope.
3. Rely on the Holy Spirit and follow His guidance, works
Third, follow the guidance and work of God by relying on the Holy Spirit. Why do we rely on the Holy Spirit? Because there is nothing to rely on in us. That’s what it means to rely on the strength of the Holy Spirit. So, in conclusion, go all in to the Word of God, prayer, and the evangelism that reveals that. May you and I have victory throughout the week.
Message Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the Word we have received.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We thank You for giving us, who are truly depraved, true hope through Jesus Christ. Allow us to become servants of faith who follow the Word of Christ by relying on the Holy Spirit. We pray You will guide us so we may be we witness, and we pray that You will allow us to show the world that is totally depraved that the True Hope is only in Christ, and we pray You will give us the grace, power, and wisdom, to take on this work. And may all of our lives and studies be used as an instrument to testify of this kingdom. Allow us not to resent, criticize, or put down the world, but instead, be the ones who save the world. We pray You will bless the hands of those who have given the offering so it may be used to save LA, the US, and the entire world. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. WRC day on 8/2(Sat.), 2-6PM at ICSC.
2. Bible reading, writing
3. Education department meeting, 2:30pm
4. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, guidance, fellowship, and working of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the future generations who desire to live their lives relying on only the Triune God, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.