Blog 3 - We are all Sinners

 

We are all Sinners

Read:

• Psalm 14
• Romans 3

One thing people struggle with the most is admitting their faults. Like when they have done something wrong or that they struggle with something. Maybe it’s because your friends or family think so highly of you, you don’t want to let them down. You can see that a lot with parents, we all knew that one person who has parents who think they are an angel but when they are
away from their parents, they are anything but an angel. In this chapter Paul gives us a hard reality check. No matter how good our friends and family think we are we are all sinners.   

Why do we sin? A lot of the time its because of pride. We think that we can go our own way and look elsewhere for joy and happiness other than God. We see this play out in Psalm 14, where David talks about the sins of his people and how they have forgotten God, even convincing themselves that there is no God. (v1) Just like in the last blog about people living to their own standards we see these people now living their own standards by doing evil with no knowledge that it is evil. (v4) We see this a lot in today’s world with the rise of abortion, euthanasia, gender dysphoria, etc. Even things like gossiping, using swear words, disobeying parents. People don’t realise how much these things offend God no matter how big and small we think they are. This shows us why God’s law is important because if we have no law, we will have no knowledge of where we go wrong. We are held accountable to God as the world is held under the law, as Paul reminds us in Romans 3v9&10. We should read God’s word to understand God’s law more and keep ourselves accountable, to see how we can be more like Christ.

When we look now to Romans 3, at this time the Jews were thinking that they are the chosen people, and they were better than the gentiles (non-Jews). But Paul says verse 9 that Jews are not better off, “Both Jew and Greeks are under sin.” With verse 10 to 12 quoting Psalm 14v1 to 3 that shows that there is no one who is without sin, we are all sinners.

But its not all doom and gloom. Yes, we are all sinners, yes, we let God down every day. But Paul reminds us that we are saved through Christ. Verse 23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But we see a light at the end of the tunnel in verse 24-26 that God gives us a way of redemption through Jesus. Paul describes it as we “are justified by His grace as a gift,” meaning that Jesus’s grace towards us is a gift to us, it’s not about what we have done but everything Jesus has done on the cross for us. Paul then says in verse 26 that we are justified when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. We have faith that what he has done on the cross was enough to forgive us for our sins.

By this faith Paul finally wants to remind us that it is entirely through Jesus that we are saved. Not through our good deeds or works but solely through Christ. (v28) So, by this everyone can be saved, Paul reminds the Jews that God isn’t just the God of the Jews but the God of the Gentiles as well. Showing that salvation is free to all who come to him asking for forgiveness. This salvation was prophesied in Psalm 14v7 “The Lord restores the fortunes of his people,” and he did that through His son Jesus. So, let us be thankful that God has planned our salvation since creation itself, even though we are sinners he loves us enough to give us his Son to die for us.

Dear God, sorry for the times we let you down, sorry for our sin that so deeply offends you. Thank you for making a way for forgiveness through your Son, Jesus. Thank you that through His death we can have faith that we are forgiven and saved through your amazing grace. Amen.

 

Going Deeper Questions

1. How do we see the state of people in these verses? How is this a clear reflection of what we see in today’s world? (Psalm 14v1-4 & Romans 1v9-18)
2. What does Paul say about the role of the law in revealing sin? (v19-20)
3. How does God offer justification to sinners through faith? (V24-26) How amazing is it that Psalm 14v7 foreshadow this?
4. How does Faith in Christ uphold the law? What practical steps can we take in upholding the law?
5. Verse 23 says “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” When you read Romans 5v8, what does that mean to you personally? How does that make you feel?