Observation
Just because the Jews have the Law does not mean they are any better than others. All people are under the power of sin.
Paul quotes several Psalms to illustrate the point that God judges that no one is righteous. All have turned away from God and revel in foul talk, lies, murder and destruction.
The law is to keep people from excuses and to show their guilt. The law cannot make us right with God; it simply shows us how sinful we are.
Application
Our culture keeps telling us that people are basically good. We have removed sin from our vocabulary and talk instead about bad choices. We like to believe that babies are blank slates with no intrinsic tendency to sin.
Characters are flawed. Nobody is perfect. Bad people do good things and good people do bad things. Thus we like to muddy the waters about God’s standards for our lives.
God’s judgement is very different from man’s judgement. There is no one who is righteous. Not even one.
We are all marked with sin. Unless that sin is atoned for then we continue to carry it.
On the reality TV shows about the police, it is interesting to see how many people drive without a licence, often in unregistered vehicles and sometimes with outstanding arrest warrants from previous crimes. The police don’t care about your spotless driving record if you drive without a licence. You are breaking the law, and are by definition a law breaker.
This is how it is with God. We have all sinned. We all fall short of His standards. We are all law breakers.
The Good News is that when we come to Christ, our past history is removed from the record. God, in His great love for us, no longer holds our offences against us.
Prayer
Praise to you, Most High God. Your love for me has overcome my sin against you. Thank you for forgiving me and not holding my sin against me. Amen.
