“As it is written, ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’” - Romans 3:10-12
Do you believe people are basically good…not perfect, but basically good? If you answered, “Yes,” then you are in the vast majority of how people think about humanity. The problem with this answer, however, is that according to God’s Word, it is wrong. The Bible does not teach that people are generally good, but rather that ALL people are generally bad. We are not good people who occasionally do bad things. We are bad people who try hard to do, say, and think good things.
If you don’t agree with this statement, think about this: We don’t have to try or learn to do bad things. Before children can even talk, they innately want what they cannot have. No one teaches a child to lie, to refuse to share, or to disobey parents. This comes naturally. However, children must be trained to be kind, obey rules, and share their toys. Furthermore, if people are basically good, why do we need so many laws? Why the form of government we have? James Madison, the chief architect of the U.S. Constitution, put it this way: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administrated by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.”
We are not good people who occasionally sin. We are sinners who occasionally do good things. That is why we need grace. The entire Book of Romans is about how much humanity needs God’s grace. God has created a Universe in order to reveal Himself to us and have a relationship with us. But rather than accept God, we have rejected Him. Rather than live for God, mankind has chosen to live for himself. We have all sinned. We are all greedy, selfish, and prideful on some level. There is no one perfect…until Jesus.
In all of human history, He is the only human being who went through life unmarked by sin. It is impossible to fully understand the Gospel of Christ without understanding the sinfulness of man. It doesn’t matter what popular opinion says, or even what we think or feel. God’s Word is clear. There is no one righteous, no one who seeks God. This is why we needed Jesus to come to us…because in our sinfulness we never would have made our way to Him. God’s grace truly is amazing!
Father, I admit that I am a sinner in need of Your grace. Thank You for sending Jesus to die for me so that I can know You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
