What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
Romans 3:9-20
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
No one is righteous before God. No one seeks God. Every person who has ever lived, except for Jesus Christ, is guilty of violating God’s law. All are sinners. For every lie they have told, they will be found a liar; for every thing they have stolen, they will be found a thief; for every lustful thought they have had, they will be found an adulterer; for every time they have misused the holy name of God, they will be found a blasphemer; for every violation of God’s law, they will be found a sinner.
When we die, we will stand before God and be judged for all of our sins. And as a holy and perfect judge, He will punish us all of our sin. And the punishment He has declared for sin is eternity in Hell. (Revelation 20:14-15)
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26
While God is holy and just, He is also loving and merciful. He has extended His grace to us as a gift and given to us what we could never obtain on our own: righteousness. Roughly two-thousand years ago. Jesus, God the Son, was sent by God the Father so that we may be spared from His judgment, which we deserve, and granted eternal life with Him. Jesus, fully God and fully Man, lived the perfect sinless life that we could not live. After roughly thirty-three years into this sinless life, He voluntarily suffered the torment, flogging and crucifixion, dying a painful and bloody death taking upon Himself the punishment we all deserve. Three days later, He forever defeated sin and death when He rose from the grave.
God commands that each one of us repent (Acts 17:30-31) and in faith alone, receive Jesus Christ as out Lord and Savior. He alone is the path to salvation (John 14:6).
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4, 10-11
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Those of us who have repented of our sins and, in faith alone, received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, are no longer slaves to sin and death. We are forever free from the bondage our sins trapped us in. We are no longer condemned because of our sins. God has accepted the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ as payment for our sins. And in Him we have become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
If you have not yet done so, please repent (turn away from) your sin and by faith alone, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You may not get another opportunity. Life is not certain. Death and judgment are.
Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithful love;
according to Your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.
Wash away my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.
Against You – You alone – I have sinned and done evil in Your sight.
So You are right when You pass sentence;
You are blameless when You judge.
Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
Surely You desire integrity in the inner self,
and You teach me wisdom deep within.
Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt.
God, create a clean heart for me
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not banish me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore the joy of Your salvation to me,
and give me a willing spirit.
Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways,
and sinners will return to You.
Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God,
the God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare Your praise.
You do not want a sacrifice,
or I would give it;
You are not pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.
God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.
In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper;
build the walls of Jerusalem.
Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on Your alter.
Psalm 51:1-19
