There is a verse in Romans 3 we all know:
… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… – Romans 3:23
But that is not even a complete sentence. We know it is telling us that all people have sinned, regardless of who we are. We can see that the Jews had it in their head that they were righteous enough just by being Jews. Paul shows us in Romans 3 that there is much more to it.
If we are not careful we are going to drift away from God, just like the Jews did.
It was predicted in the Psalms this would happen (as quoted by Paul in Romans 3:10-18.) In fact, they were so far gone they completely missed that the Messiah came and went.
Since we are all the same in God’s eyes, we all share the same potential to drift away if we do not practice the righteousness of God. The danger is thinking we are okay, when in fact we have drifted away because our faith is not the obedient kind like Paul describes in Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26.
When Paul said we are all sinners, he was not giving us an excuse – he was giving us a warning. This was not permission to shrug and and say, “Oh well.” Many are calling themselves Christians because they completed some steps, but they continued on in their worldly ways.
It is time to stop making excuses.
July 16, 2014
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