TUESDAY June 9, 2020

None Are Righteous

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”
Romans 3:9-12

Paul knew the Jews were self-righteous. He had been among them as one of them. He was an expert in the law and the Septuagint––the Greek translations of the Old Testament. Paul had studied under Gamaliel, one of the greatest Jewish Rabbis in the ancient world. In Acts 22:3, Paul gave to us his educational background:

“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.”

When Paul came to Christ, He was able to write 14 doctrinal letters on the law and the grace of God. He easily revealed the sinful nature of all men. The Jews were not any better than anyone else. Sin is a part of human character; there is none righteous. Man is unprofitable because of sin.

I believe there is a big problem with self-righteousness in the church. People think they are better than anyone else. They look at others and question, “How can they do that?” Yet those accusing are just as guilty because they commit other sins––it is all sin. It is important to examine our own lives first before we preach to others.

If you first take care of the sins in your own home, then maybe you will be able to help somebody else––never by condemning them, but by loving them as you live the Christian life in front of them. Remember, everyone has broken the Ten Commandments. Christians cannot stand before others like the Pharisees and condemn people.

Read the Ten Commandments, and pause at each one, and confess that you have broken it either in thought, or word, or deed. Remember that by a glance we may commit adultery, by a thought we may be guilty of murder, by a desire we may steal.
~C. H Spurgeon~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!