Romans 3

http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+3/

Paul asks if there is any advantage to being Jewish, and he says there is. After all, God entrusted the Jewish people first with His word. Paul makes an amazing remark that God is honest while everyone else is a liar. Can anyone honestly say that they have never in their entire lives told a lie at some point? People make all sorts of crazy excuses for why their sin is okay or why God punishes them unfairly. They think that if their sin shows that God is fair, they are alright. God is always fair when we sin through His judgement. If He took it easy on us when our sins proved He was fair, He would not judge anyone nor be fair at that point. Some say that the ends justify the means, but that simply is not true. If you sin, you sin. There is no reason for the sin that can be good enough to make it okay. No one truly has any advantage to who they are because everyone sins. Because of Adam and Eve, no one can have God's approval from birthrights. Everyone spends some part of their lives turning away from God. No one does good on their own. How many times have you seen a young child do something bad? Have you ever seen the parent teach that child to do bad? Doing what is wrong is in our nature. You cannot gain approval with God form following Moses' Teachings because Moses' Teachings only show what sin is.

There is a simple way to receive God's approval. Moses and all of the prophets even speak of it in their own form. Anyone who believes has God's approval through Jesus. Everyone is basically the same because everyone sins. No one is perfect. No one, save Jesus, walked this Earth and never sinned. In addition, all types of people freely receive God's approval through faith in Jesus. God is a God who sends His approval to those who believe in Jesus Christ. This should eliminate bragging because what do we have to brag about. We lived lives of sin, and God gave us His approval because we believe in Jesus. We are all the same. No variation in the story. Is this something from our own efforts? No because it is from faith. We all have one faith, whether we are circumcised or uncircumcised, Jewish or gentile.