We Are All Sinners, No One is Better Than The Other!
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When Paul says "we", he is referring to he and his fellow Jews. His main point is that whether one is a Jew, from another religion, or even an atheist or agnostic, we all have one thing in common. We are sinners. A lot of people think this is a negative message, or meant to shame or guilt someone. And while historically it has been used in that way, the important thing is it is true Why?
Because we all fall short of the only true standard there is God and his goodness.
Lest you think this is only a New Testament concept, Paul quotes from many passages in the Old Testament including Psalm 14:1-3
"Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
not one of them does good! 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!"
So, in essence you really can't say there are good and bad people. This sounds counter intuitive as there are surely people we can all agree on that are "really bad people". But then the question is are there any good people? You may say, "Of course there are!" And. in some way you would probably be correct. But the question is what is your standard of good?
Paul uses a single measuring stick for who or what is good, and it is what he calls the "Law". Generally speaking this is the "Law of Moses", or the first five books of the bible, which we call the "Pentateuch", or the "Torah". But specifically it is generally referring to the Ten Commandments, which is a summary of God's moral laws.
Paul gives us the first purpose of the Law when he says,
"Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God." Romans 3:19
Though the Law was given by Yahweh to God's chosen nation, the Jews, it equally applies to all people. And Paul says its purpose is to "keep people from having excuses!" We all like to make excuses for our behavior and rationalize we are not as bad as others. But the bottom line is that when we don't keep the Law, we show that we are guilty of sin before God. And so is everyone else. So on one level this is convicting, but on another level it is freeing in that we all share the same problem.
So what does this mean for our relationship with God? Paul clarifies this further when he says,
"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:20
To be made right with God is what theologians call "justification". Someone once said they could remember that word by thinking it means, "just as if I've never sinned!" While this is not entirely theologically correct, it gets to the main point that we can’t justify or make ourselves right with God by trying to be a good person.
So Paul concludes in Roman 3:23, "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard."
This is the "bad news", but good news is coming. And the good news can't be good news until we come realize the bad news is true. And the good news is that God knew we would not measure up to His standard, so he made a way for us to become right with him. He made a way for us to have a relationship with the one, holy, God. We all fall short of God's glory, because he is holy and we are not. God, in his holiness, cannot just "wink" at sin and make it go away because he is a nice guy. That would not be "just", which is an integral part of his character.
But because of God's deep love for us he did provide a way out of the problem we are in.
Paul says, "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are." Romans 3:22
These statements in Romans by Paul are the great truths we Christians hold most dearly. Though we are sinners. we can still have a perfect relationship with our Holy Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. Instead of placing our faith in ourselves to be good enough to merit a right relationship with God, we instead put our faith in Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
So we can conclude that the Law is good because it pointed out that we fell short of God's standards, but it also pointed us to Christ the only who could meet God's standards.
So What Do You Think?
1. Are you still trying to please God by becoming a good or better person? Have you come to the realization though it is not a bad thing to try and be a better person it won't make you right with God?
2. Do you see how Jesus is the only one who could make you right with God and how he was the fulfillment of the sacrifices of the Old Testament, when the Jewish people offered up innocent lambs to be sacrificed for the sins of the people.
3. Finally, once you have been set free from the Law by being made right with God by faith, you are sufficiently motivated to live by God's law of love. Because of what God has done for you in Christ, you can express your gratitude to God by loving other unconditionally as He has loved you.
When you are realize that you are really no better or worse than anyone else, you can stop judging people and spending time sharing the Good News with them that they too can be made right with God by faith in His Son!
Psalm 12:6
The Lord’s promises are pure,
like silver refined in a furnace,
purified seven times over.
Proverbs 19;13
A foolish child is a calamity to a father;
a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.
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