Romans 3:9

Romans 3:9 states, What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;  Paul said that of their own ability the Jew was no better than the Gentile.  He was speaking of those who professed to be God's people but who did not live under God's leadership.  We could make this same statement of those today who profess to believe in God but don't feel the need to live by His truth.  Paul said that the Jew was no better than the Gentile, because all had sinned.  Where we were born nor the family we were born into exempts us from the penalty of sin.  Matthew Henry points out that verses ten through twelve are taken from Psa 14:1-3, which are repeated as containing a very weighty truth found in Psa 53:1-3.  Paul did not come up with truth about God that opposed the Scriptures, but that fulfilled it instead.  We must do the same today.  God is not suddenly going to give us an insight that goes against His written Word.  Verse ten adds, As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  The Jew in Paul's day, nor anyone who came before or after, could claim to be righteous by their own merit, except for Jesus Christ Himself.  When we are judged by the Law of God, which includes not only our actions but our thoughts as well, we are all guilty.  We are not judged by our comparison to other people, but by our comparison to Christ, and He alone is without sin.  Verse eleven continues, There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.  Paul was speaking to the Jews who relied on their own status in worldly understanding to bring them into the right status with God.  They did not understand or seek after God.  We today can never rely on our own abilities to save us but must seek after God in all things.  Verse twelve concludes, They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.   God's chosen people had become unprofitable to God, and Paul said that not one did good.  Until they accepted the Messiah, Jesus Christ, this would remain the case, as it was for all Gentiles.  Though I do not believe that it is possible to lose ones salvation, it is possible to become unprofitable to God by the way we live.  We must always remember that Christ is not only our Savior, but also our Lord.