WE ARE ALL SINNERS

Romans 3:10-12 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Both Psalms 14 and 53 begin with this teaching; The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Each Psalm is followed in verses 1 through 3 with the very thought Paul used in the lesson text which was written to the Christians at Rome: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Studying the first 9 verses of this chapter of the Roman epistle, we learn that Jews have no advantage, with God, over people of the Gentile nations. In chapter 2, Paul told these Christians, as well as us today, that God shows no favoritism. Both were living under laws designed by God. Both had a free will to obey or disobey these respective laws of God. Both Jew and Gentile would be punished for disobedience, and rewarded for obeying His will. In summary, ...there is no respect of persons with God (Rom. 2:11).

God did, indeed, select the Jewish nation for the purpose of bringing Jesus Christ into the world. In order to protect the heritage of Jesus, God favored Israel by giving them a land that flowed with milk and honey - the Promised Land. He intervened on their behalf by making them prosper in all things that sustained their physical lives, He protected them by destroying their enemies, and He gave them something He had not given the rest of the world - a new, written law to govern their lives. The Jewish nation was, indeed, God's children; a special, chosen people. Recognizing their "special" position in the eyes of God, they became "special" in their own eyes. They became a biased, prejudiced nation filled with partiality. Looking at the Gentile nations (all others that were not Jewish), they became "holier than thou." Their suspicion and intolerance of others developed into a sinful, extreme hatred of all non-Jews.

Paul uses the quotations from Psalms, noted above, to prove the point he uses in verse 9. Paul's question to the Jews, his own people, was this: What then, are we (Jews) better that they (Gentiles)? This rhetorical question Paul answers by saying, No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. With the fact established that all people, regardless of race or heritage, are under sin, Paul could apply the teaching found in these Psalms, that there is none righteous, no, not one. Because all fail in righteous merit, all are sinful in the eyes of God.

Without exception, no man or woman is capable, on their own volition, to understand, to seek God, or to do enough good works, while here on earth, to "earn" the eternal salvation offered by God, through His Son, Jesus Christ. Notice that God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them (Gen. 1:27). When created, mankind was like God; they were without sin. However, this god-like, sinless condition ceased when Adam and Eve disobeyed God's commandments (See Gen. 3). This fall from grace resulted in enmity between God and mankind that could be reconciled only by being born again through baptism into the body of Christ. This fact, Jesus Christ, Himself, taught the Pharisee, Nicodemus, and teaches us today, when he said, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (See John 1:1-5).

This fact, Paul also taught the church at Corinth, when he wrote ...be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him (Jesus Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:20b-21). Outside this reconciled condition, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, can truly teach you and I, and all mankind, that, on our own merit, there is none righteous, no, not one. Even Jesus, when called Good Master, corrected the person by saying, there is none good but one, that is, God (Mark 10:18). The apostle, John confirmed this when he wrote, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).

Indeed, we are all sinners. However, for those that have been reconciled to God through the obedient act of baptism, those that are within the body of Christ, there is hope of becoming sinless and attaining eternal salvation. This hope is affirmed by John, in following verse, telling Christians everywhere that If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness(1 John 1:9). We are all sinners! However, the blood of Christ cleanses all Christians, who confess their sinfulness to God!