Courtney over at Faithful Bloggers is hosting a new group writing project on the Romans Road. I have chosen to look at Romans 3:23. Please check out the other great posts on this important subject.
Romans 3: 23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
I remember having an in-class discussion back in high school about whether people are inherently good or evil. The discussion occurred while we were reading the book Lord of the Flies, in which a group of schoolboys are stranded on a island. As they attempt to govern themselves the situation quickly devolves into anarchy and chaos.
I was so surprised to find that I was the only person in the class who believed in any sort of sin nature. Everyone else believed we come into this world perfectly good and are corrupted by our environment.
Clearly, God's Word says differently. All have sinned. Everyone of us. And we sin because it is our nature to do so, not because we have been taught to.
Children are a great illustration of this.
Did you have to teach your children to be disobedient?
Did you show your toddler how to have a temper tantrum?
Did you sit little Johnny down and tell him it's time he learn how to lie?
Of course not. All of these behaviors have to be disciplined out of children, not taught to them. This is because of the fall. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden every child has come into this world with a sin-stained heart - all but one that is.
Jesus, who dwelt as God and with God from all eternity, was born of a virgin and lived a perfectly sinless life. He died on a cross as a substitute for us so that all who repent and believe in Him may have eternal life. Jesus, the sinless Savior, was punished for our sins so that we can find forgiveness at the cross.
