Paul concludes his point of the universal need for salvation by turning to the revealed Word of God. The religious person is no better than the pagan. Listen to the litany of truth about the sinfulness of man found in Romans 3:10-18, quoting from the Psalms, Isaiah and Ecclesiastes.

 

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, 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.” 

 

Paul could have marshaled more quotations such as Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” He could have referred to many examples of how man through past centuries has rebelled against the truth and arrogantly gone his own way down the broad road to destruction. But he felt that the quotes listed here in Romans 3 are sufficient to silence every mouth and hold everyone in the world accountable to God. 

 

Romans 3:20 declares, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” The advantage of having the divine revelation of the law is that it confirms what we already know by our conscience – we are sinners.