Willing Instruments of Murder

When Paul argues that all people are under sin in Romans 3:9-18, he does not simply argue that all people have spilled some milk on the table or made mistakes, as it is often presented. Instead, he argues that all people are murderers.

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the sin. As it is written:

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

Their throats are open graves and their tongues practice deceit. How does deception relate to murder? I would argue that it is in the convincing of either a murderer to commit murder or in the convincing of someone to take his own life. In this regard, I would hold that philosophers will be held accountable for the murders that their philosophies produced in others, whether they themselves ever raised a fist against another man or not. Are only Stalin and Hitler to blame for their murders? Should we not also see fault in the philosophies that convinced them to become so? Is it only the Hutu people who took up machetes against the Tutsi to blame, or is it also the radio hosts with their dehumanizing propaganda who have hands full of blood? Is Ted Bundy alone to be blamed for his rape and murder, or do Friedrich Nietzsche and Aldous Huxley share any blame for convincing him of the worldview that justified his breach of what he viewed now as merely social taboo?

If a man convinces another man to become a murderer, is he not equally a part in that murder? Does not one often feel the need to justify the act with the philosophy to match? Do these ideas not give permission to the murderer to act as he does? But how does everyone become the devil on the shoulders of killers? 

I would argue that everyone convinces other people to take their own lives. The deceived, in turn, adopt philosophies, as well as practices that assume those philosophies, that work to convince others to take their own lives. They do this by convincing other people to take upon themselves false worldviews and practices that lead to their damnation and exile from the eternal land of the living. As those in obedience to God become His priests who present His truth to the world in both word and deed, so also the disobedient to Christ is a priest for the devil, the murderer of all mankind, that presents his argument to the world.

Every man's life is an argument for a worldview. Every man's truth claims are dogmas concerning the nature of reality. In speaking these dogmas or living them out, each person does his part in convincing others to believe and do the same.

In this regard, the throat is truly an open grave ready for all who come near it to fall in. The tongue is an instrument of deadly deceit. The poison of adders is on their lips.

Hence, when Paul argues that no man is good, he is not merely saying that no man is without faults or makes mistakes. He is saying that every person is evil. Every person is a murderer.

With this understanding, one can see that all mankind is, indeed, damned, and not in a position of favor with God. God, as the good and just Judge, will not be brushing off murder and arbitrarily setting murderers free.

The only Person in a position of favor with God is Jesus Christ, who is the exact opposite of the rest of the murderers that make up fallen mankind. He is the Savior. He saves life rather than murdering it.

Hence, it is only through a unification with Jesus Christ, who has God's favor, that a murderer can have his crimes paid for in Christ's death, as well as obtain the favor of God that the Lord Jesus has, having now become one with Him through faith.

There, therefore, is no hope outside of Christ. When Christ comes and calls out for all mankind to repent, He is calling for all to repent of their murder. The wrath of God abides upon all murderers. God has no favor upon them. They all bear sentence of Cain banished into exile. Indeed, the Bible argues that God hates murderers. However, He loves and favors His life-giving Son with whom He is forever well pleased. He alone, therefore, is the hope of a lost humanity covered in one another's blood; and without Him, rest assured, every man will pay for what he has done . . . and for what he has said.