9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Romans 3:9-12 ESV
Fun Fact: Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are alike in theme and almost (but not entirely) word-for-word the same! I wonder if David used the identical source text as his inspiration to write two different songs of a similar nature. I just found it fascinating that I had never noticed before!
Now, as we turn our attention to the Romans scripture, we see Paul quoting from both of these Psalms to support his argument that even though the Jews had some advantages to being Jewish, it does not make them better off when it comes to salvation. Paul restates his thesis, “ALL, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.”
No one is exempt from being under sin at every time and place in history. We were born under the curse of the Original Sin, which causes us to be born spiritually dead with a sinful nature. The result is that we are not righteous, lack understanding, do not seek after God nor call upon Him, have turned aside, do not do good, and have become worthless.
As we continue in Romans 3, there will be several more places from scripture that Paul draws upon to paint a pretty sad picture of humanity (as if verses 11 and 12 weren’t bad enough!). Paul is nearing the finish line of giving us the bad news for Jews and Greeks; hold on tight to the end, and thank God this isn’t the end of the story!