The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.

— Psalm 58:3

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.

11 There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”

14-16 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery lie in their wake,

17-18 and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

— Romans 3:10-18

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

— 2 Corinthians 5:21

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and salvation from Christ to you.

The Bible reveals humanity’s desperate state—all people are sinners rightly due God’s just judgment. Everyone sins and deserves God’s condemnation. People live their lives committing sin that violates God’s righteous standards. With mercy toward our hopeless condition, God intervened to solve a problem humans could not overcome on their own. God offered His won Son as the sinless sacrifice for everyone who looks to Him for salvation. Jesus willingly became an acceptable substitute for sinners.

When He died on the cross, Jesus absorbed the full weight of God’s wrath for an infinite number of sins. In a glorious exchange to forever atone for believers’ debt of sin, Jesus, who knows no sin and has never committed any sin, offers His perfect righteousness that satisfies the requirement of the holy and just God, to everyone who trusts in Him. Only God could have conceived and carried out a plan that upheld His righteous justice and mercifully pardoned sinners. Praise God for Jesus Christ-the sinless substitute who brings relief and rescue from the judgment His people deserve.