9 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. 10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.” (Romans 3:9–11, NKJV)
Sin is ugly. Some people prefer not to think about it. They don’t want to talk about it. They what a gospel that is only positive and that does not explain, explore and expose the spiritual problems of sin. That is not the gospel of Christ. Some people redefine sin until it is almost nonexistent. Sin is too often couched in terms like “freedom of choice,” or “this is who I am,” or “it’s an illness,” in attempts to remove accountability for it. The Bible is not ambiguous about sin. It is real, and it is deadly. Sin means “to miss the mark.” Like an archer whose arrow misses the bulls eye, we have missed the target (God’s law, 1 John 3:4). Sin is universal. We have all missed the mark, we have all sinned against God (1 John 3:4; Rom. 3:23). Sin is an oppressive taskmaster who brings death to all over whom it rules (Rom. 6:23). One form sin takes is ignorance (v. 11). We cannot plead ignorance as a justification for sinning against God. Ignorance is not bliss, it brings eternal death (2 Thess. 1:8-9). Only when we are convicted of our sins will we turn to God for relief (Acts 2:37). And, He gives it in His Son (1 John 5:11-13).
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