Imagine a lone traveler walking along a desolate road under a thick blanket of darkness. He has lost his destination. The soles of his feet are cracked, and rough sighs spill from his mouth. Scripture compresses this tragic landscape into a single sentence: "Ruin and misery are in their ways." (Rom. 3:16)
This is not a threat meant only to intimidate us with future punishment. It is a diagnosis of the present-an existential description of the suffering human beings must endure when they lose God as their compass. We often soothe ourselves by saying, "I'm fine," but the apostle Paul tears off our masks through Romans 3, declaring, "There is none righteous, no, not one."
Today, using Pastor David Jang's expository sermon on Romans 3:9-20 as our guide, we will trace the roots of sin buried deep within us-and at the end of that path, we will meditate on the paradoxical grace of the cross.
A Mouth Like an Open Grave: On That Chilling Despair
Paul proclaims that whether Jew or Greek, no one can escape the dominion of sin. At this point, Pastor David Jang offers a piercing insight: the fact that we have been saved does not mean our sinful nature has completely disappeared.
Justification is a once-for-all event, but sanctification is a lifelong, intense battle. The Old Testament passages Paul quotes expose how comprehensive human depravity truly is. When a person erases God from the heart, corruption soon flows into language. The words "their throat is an open grave" and "the poison of asps is under their lips" are frighteningly precise.
When the heart decays, the mouth inevitably reeks. As the warning in James reminds us, the tongue is a small member, yet it can become a hellfire that sets an entire life ablaze. Even within the church, we sometimes wound one another-pouring out criticism and condemnation wrapped in "holy" words.
Pastor David Jang points out that it is our nature to be quick-footed in committing sin, yet always hesitant when it comes to doing good. Eyes that do not fear God, a tongue that carries poison, feet swift to shed blood-when all these combine, they produce the outcome called "ruin and misery."
The law is a mirror reflecting this horrific reality. A mirror can show the soot on our faces, but it cannot wash it away. Standing before the law, we finally fall silent, confessing our complete inability.
A Torn Shoe: Tears Flowing on Rembrandt's Canvas
At this point, we are reminded of the immortal masterpiece by the 17th-century Dutch master Rembrandt: The Return of the Prodigal Son.
The prodigal son in the painting visually embodies Romans' "ruin and misery" with stunning clarity. His head appears shaven, his clothes are utterly ragged, and most striking of all are his feet-his left foot is bare, and his right sandal is worn down and nearly falling apart. That torn shoe speaks volumes about how harsh and agonizing the "path of ruin" has been.
He left proudly with his father's inheritance, yet the conclusion of life apart from God (the Father) was a misery so severe that even pig feed was hard to obtain.
In his sermon, Pastor David Jang connects Jesus' parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 with the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16-and both resonate deeply with the painting. The burning thirst of the rich man in Hades, begging for "just a drop of water" on his tongue, is the essential torment every soul experiences when it departs from the Father's embrace.
In Rembrandt's painting, the prodigal son buries his face in his father's chest. The father's two hands that wrap around him symbolize not the condemnation of the law, but the grace of covering and forgiveness. The law tells the prodigal, "You are a sinner," and silences him-yet it is precisely in that silence that the righteousness of God is revealed. The deeper human despair sinks, the more clearly grace shines from above.
Washing Garments in Wine: The Robe of Grace We Must Put On Again Each Day
Then what should life look like after salvation?
Just as the prodigal returned and was clothed in new garments, we too have been clothed with Christ. Yet Pastor David Jang does not forget a sobering warning, drawing from the story of Noah in Genesis. Even righteous Noah, who survived the flood judgment, became drunk on wine and exposed his naked shame. Even a saved believer, if not vigilant, can tumble back into sin's mud at any moment.
What matters is not the arrogance of Ham-seeing another's shame and mocking or condemning it-but the love of Shem and Japheth, who covered it. And above all, it is the humility of washing one's own garments every day.
In Genesis 49, Jacob's prophecy includes the phrase "he washed his garments in wine," which connects beautifully with Revelation 22: "Blessed are those who wash their robes." The life of faith does not end with a single wash. As we walk through a wilderness-like world, dust from sin inevitably clings to our feet and hems. Therefore, each day we must immerse our deeds, words, and hearts in the wine of Jesus Christ's blood and wash them clean. This is the process of sanctification.
The power to turn from the road of ruin and misery to the road of peace and life does not come from within us. It flows only from the grace of the cross. Paul's cry, "Wretched man that I am," is not a confession of defeat, but the most honest prayer of someone who longs for grace.
As Pastor David Jang emphasizes through his sermon, only when sin appears as sin can grace appear as grace. Today, we examine ourselves: Are my lips carrying the poison of a viper? Are my feet running toward selfish desire? And then, once again, we come before the cross. To stop walking the path of ruin and step onto the path of grace-that is the greatest gospel blessing we are meant to enjoy today.
