“as it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one” (Romans 3:10-12, NASB).
These verses begin with “there is none righteous” and end with “there is none who does good.” Sandwiched in between those two statements, we are told that none of us understand, none of us seeks God and we have all become useless. That seems harsh.
From our vantage point, there are people who do “good.” They may not do good all the time (so maybe they are not righteous), but they do do some good. While there are people who do not seek God, there are all the religions for people who do seek a god. Moreover, not all of us are useless. Again, from our vantage point.
So, why would the Apostle Paul say in these verses that no one does good? What was his vantage point? It begs answering the question, “Why is the good that people do not good?”
Dr. Boice, in his commentary on the book of Romans (Romans, Volume 1, Justification by Faith, Romans 1-4, p. 292), provides a wonderful illustration for the answer to this question. A prisoner of war received a monopoly game in a care package. The sender thought it would help the prisoners pass the time. For the prisoners, it provided them with money. They could buy and sell what they received in their care packages. This monopoly money was quite valuable to them and so they equally shared it among themselves.
When they returned home, one of the prisoners who had acquired most of the money went to the bank to open an account. He proudly put his close to half a million dollars on the counter as his deposit. The problem is that it was the monopoly money. It had no value outside of the prison.
In the same way, our good works have value here on earth. However, when we get to heaven, our good works are like monopoly money in the bank of God. None of us can do the good that will save our souls. Our good works are monopoly good to God.
God will only accept one deposit. That deposit is the blood and death of Jesus Christ. God demands the righteousness of Christ and the good work of Christ. God is not found in religion. We cannot understand apart from Christ in us.
The vantage point makes all the difference in understanding these verses. God’s vantage point is Jesus Christ.
Mary studied Mechanical Engineering as an undergraduate student. While studying she traded semesters working at NASA in Houston, Texas. It was while working at NASA that she felt the tug on her heart that God had another plan for her life. Upon graduation, Mary proceeded to serve as a missionary for the next 11 years of her life; she served in Greece the last two years of her service. Upon returning from Greece, she pursued her Master's degree in Counseling, which led to a job with a major university. It was while working there that God did what God faithfully does, she found herself working as an engineer again as she managed major construction projects for the university. She also pursued her Master's degree in Engineering Management and her Professional Engineering License. Mary now on her ministry and writing. When Mary left missionary service it was her desire to return to fulltime ministry one day. She had her first outline for a book in 1989 (a book she has yet to write). Her first book was published in May, 2014 with the second quickly on its heels in December, 2014. She continues to write and is developing an evangelistic series of books centered around Jesus Christ. Her prayer is that her books will bless others' relationships with our Father God and His word.