Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

— Romans 5:12

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

— Romans 3:12; 23-24

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

— Isaiah 53:6

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

— Ephesians 4:18

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

— 1 Timothy 1:15

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

“Sin” is not a word that frequently enters conversations today. Even when we acknowledge that our own thoughts, desires, and actions are not entirely pure, we can be more concerned about the consequences of our failures than their source. Ultimately, sin is defined as any way we fail to conform to God’s perfectly holy standards and will, acting independently of Him. Ever since Adam and Eve willfully sinned in God’s perfect garden, all humanity has inherited sin’s pervasive curse. Now, every person enters this world corrupted by sin and rightly subject to God’s righteous wrath.’

Though we can greatly underestimate the gravity of sin, recognizing sin’s universal damage helps explain the rampant evil loose in our world. Only when we grasp the seriousness of sin can we appreciate our need for God’s grace and Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. When we study the Bible in the power of the Holy Spirit, we identify the many ways sin has assaulted and captured us. However, God does not expose our sinfulness to leave us hopeless and helpless. God reveals our sin to lead us to wholeness only He can provide.