We hear a lot of lies in the world, and unfortunately in many churches as well. One of the things we hear the most is how good most people are, which is absolutely not true. We are all sinful: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).  Sinners is what we are. Whether male or female, rich or poor, all have sinned. We have all been born with a sin nature and we all sin. To sin is to violate God’s law and therefore to dishonor Him.

We sin when we do what God prohibits (sins of commission) and when we fail to do what God commands (sins of omission). Sin is not merely external but extends even to our innermost soul, our hearts (Matt 15:19). By breaking the law at even one point, we are guilty of breaking it all (Jam 2:10). By sinning in our hearts we have fallen short of the glory and righteousness of God. The just dessert or wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Therefore, we are born condemned and increase our guilt with every sin. The only way to rectify this deplorable condition is to be perfect, which we are both unable and unwilling to do.

The other day in my Bible study I came across Psalm 18, and one verse particularly dropped me to my knees. “The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.” (Ps 18:20) If the Lord gives me what I deserve, I will burn in the lake of fire for eternity, and I will deserve no joy in this life. That’s what I deserve “according to the cleanness of my hands”, because His Word says: “as it is written: ‘There is no righteous person, not even one'” (Rom 3:10). 

Amazingly, graciously, God sent His sinless Son to fulfill the righteous demands of the law which we have failed to fulfill and to suffer the wrath that our sins merit (Rom 5:6–9). Through faith (and faith alone) in Jesus, we who are sinners are declared righteous before God (2 Cor 5:21). This is not a righteousness of our own but the righteousness of Christ that we receive through believing in Him (Rom 3:21–22). So, yes, we have all sinned, but because the sinless One suffered the punishment for our sins and offers us His righteousness as a free gift, we who are sinners can be called saints.

If you have already come to Christ by faith, be thankful today and everyday. If you have not, there’s still time! “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph 2:4-10)