Sin Corrupts, Grace Heals

“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

Beloved,

I used to own a manual transmission car that was forever stuck in second gear. I was young and chose not to fix the transmission, but keep driving the car in second gear. The car still functioned, but it no longer functioned as it was intended. The top speed was 30 mph so it was limited to city travel. If I wanted to go in

reverse, I was forced to turn the car off to change gears. A faulty transmission changed the entire functionality of the car. Likewise, the pervasiveness of our sin affects every aspect of our lives. We are still able to function, but are no longer able to function as God has intended.

Sin has affected the entire human race. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside.” Sin affects all of us. The sin of our forefather Adam has been credited to us and corrupted us from God’s original design. Like my dysfunctional car, we still may be able to show glimpses of our created purpose, but it is clear that there is something very wrong. The first step in fixing the problem is to realize that there is a problem. Therefore God graciously gave us the law to show us our sinfulness. Sin affects all of us and every part of us. We are all sick and need to be healed. We all have sinned, but we all have the opportunity to be justified. Romans 3:23-24, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by this grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

The Bible does not teach us to deny our sin, but to confess it and to turn to Jesus Christ for redemption. God wants to restore us to our original purpose and design. He wants us to put to death the sin in our lives so that we may live more and more as true human beings in the likeness of the prototypical human, the new Adam, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17 “For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Let us reign in life as we receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.