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Read Introduction to Romans

 

13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”;

 

“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

This is the ninth indictment showing the universal sinfulness of man.

This phrase continues the quote from Psalm 140:3.

The speech of mankind is poisonous. The “asp” here is the cobra. The talk of these people is as deadly a poison as a cobra snake’s venom. They tell lies about God, making their lies exceedingly dangerous. We cannot trust their talk about God. There is a destructive effect in understanding God by misuse of speech.

PRINCIPLE:

Sinful man uses speech to do injury to others.

APPLICATION:

Sinful man uses gossip, slander, or false accusation to hurt and mislead others in their understanding of God. This communication is just like poison from a cobra—it is deadly to the spiritual life. There is a poison in the heart of man that, for his own ends, does injury to others about God.

Jas 3:8, But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

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