Romans 3:10 - 20

Romans 3:10 - 18
As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.

"Their throad 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. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes."

This passage is often used as a proof-text for the Western vision of original sin (that we are all born under sin, guilty of Adam's sin from birth). Indeed, when taken literally, the statement "there is no one righteous, no, not one" would, necessarily, include infants as well as adults.

However, this is not the Orthodox understanding of this Psalm nor do we accept Augustinian original sin. Rather, it is clear, if we think this through in light of the doctrine of the Gospels, that this statement "there is none righteous" cannot mean literally every one on an individual basis. For we profess that Christ, who is one, is righteous. If there is none righteous, then Christ is not righteous, and we are still in our sins. However, Christ is righteousness, and so we know this is not to be taken literally.

Furthermore, just to prove the point again, the Bible calls many people righteous. The Church professes Mary to have been righteous. The Scriptures call Zacharias and Elizabeth both "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinacnes of the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:6). And indeed, if God chose a righteous husband and wife to give birth to the new Elijah, His prophet John, then how much more blessed and righteous is the Mother of our Lord, the Theotokos? Joseph is called a "just" man in Matthew 1:19. The Old Testament (the context in which the quoted Psalm was written) calls several people righteous, from Abraham straight through the prophets.

What then do we make of this Psalm? First, we must recognize the literary device of hyperbole. The Psalms express human emotion in prayer before God, and the Psalmist is expressing frustration at the sinfulness of human society. It is so sinful that, at times, it feels like everyone is sinful. And indeed, so few and far between are the righteous that, for all intents and purposes, we are all sinners. Certainly, if ANY of us is righteous in our own eyes we know we are a sinner, as this sin of pride is sufficient to make us unrighteous. The Psalm, then, should humble US - it should not be used as a tool to point the finger at others.

If there is none righteous, then I KNOW that I am NOT righteous - whether I'm Jew or Greek. As for others, I cannot say, for being an unrighteous man and a sinner I lack the spiritual discernment to recognize the righteousness or sinfulness of others.

This is how St. Paul means this Psalm to be taken. He quotes it to remind the prideful - the Jews in this case (Christians in our own time) - that we are all in need of salvation, whether Jew or Gentile, Christian or nonChristian. We cannot claim membership in a GROUP as sufficient to save us. We must LIVE BY FAITH (as this is what brings righteousness). And faith in God is incompatible with any sense of prideful self-righteousness. If I have faith in God (rely on God) then God is my all and I must be a zero unto myself. A person convinced of their own righteousness cannot be this. Thus, if I am righteous, I would nod in affirmation at the words of this Psalm. If I am a sinner (as I am), I would nod in affirmation at the words of this Psalm. But if I put my faith in the Law and my ability to follow it? Well, then the way St. Paul uses this Psalm would harrow me to the bone.

Regardless, it does not necessitate original sin (indeed, original sin, as understood by the West, cannot be drawn from these verses or we implicate Jesus in sin along with many whom the Scriptures call righteous). Rather, it necessitates humility. Let us judge ourselves as lacking, and all others as righteous, and then perhaps we will become humble enough to welcome the grace of God into our hearts.

Romans 3:19 - 20
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.

So then, the Jew asks, what purpose is the Law? The Law reveals us as we are: lacking God, apart from grace, without communion, and unable to pursue righteousness. If we don't know we are ill, how can we pursue a physician? The Law marks us as ill. It circumcises the heart by cutting away our pride, and forces us to be aware of the basic facts that any true ascetic knows: we cannot blame the world for our sins. Our sins originate from our own wilfulness. We will to sin. We will to not follow the fast. We will to not pray continuously. We will to disrespect life. We will to seek our own selfishness. If we were in the garden of Eden, we probably wouldn't have lasted as long as Adam and Eve. If we were in front of the Jews outside Christ's trial, we'd probably deny Him 3 times 30 times. By our very willfulnes, we commit every sin under the sun, and by the awareness of the Law we are convicted of this.

The Law, then, prepares us for Christ. It is only by seeing the GOODNESS of God (in the Law) that we can know how much we LACK it and, thereby, gain a thirst for Christ and God's righteousness which comes by faith. Christ, who demonstratably fulfills the Law makes MANIFEST (in the flesh) the righteousness of God and teaches it to us. He then unites God to us through the incarnation, and even to our death through the cross and resurrection. He over throws our fears, and, by the Sacrament of the Church sends us His Holy Spirit to give us faith and grace sufficient to repent. Righteousness comes from God; but if we do not thirst for it, we will not seek it, and if we do not seek it, how shall it come to us? We would be like those who, unaware of their sin, rejected Christ.

Forgive me,
Macarius