Understanding the Meaning Behind There is None Righteous No Not One 7-22-26

Jesus set us free from the penalty of sin.

There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God (Romans 3:10-11)

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

 LOOK  at the next verse: being justified [vindicated- set free] freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation [Jesus was our sin offering] by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,  to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:23-26).

Christians, like all humans, are imperfect and prone to sin. Everybody sins, even Christians; however, there is a difference in the Christian sinning and a sinner who sins. The sinner knows nothing but sin, because he or she is in a sinful state.

On the other hand, a Christian falls into sin because he or she has a flesh body and is in a natural environment (worldly) that is sinful. Christians do not remain in sin. When he sins, he asks the Lord to forgive him (1 John 1:9).

God’s grace covers their sin. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:20-21). The meaning of But - used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned: “he stumbled but didn't fall"

There are three major points I want to address:

1) None Righteous- 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.

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”(Romans 3:9-12)

Since no one seeks after God, how does salvation come? God does all the work; He even gave us the faith we needed to come into a relationship with Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). When Paul wrote none is righteous which is present tense, this did not mean that they would remain unrighteous.

2) The difference between the past and the present- All Have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (past tense).

In the now, how can we still be sinners when the Holy Spirit is living in us and He is the glory of God?  Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:17-18).

3) Paul said he was the chief of sinners as though that were in the present tense. Look at what the word is saying and what it is not saying.

Remember what the Word is and what it is not saying. It is s fact that the Bible does not contradict itself, therefore when Paul said he is chief among sinners, he didn’t finish at that verse. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

Listen, Paul added to the sentence about being chief or the worse among sinners, that he obtained mercy.

Meaning of However, used to introduce a statement that contrasts with or seems to contradict something that has been said previously.

If you are still a sinner, how are you going to heaven? We are free from the penalty of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin (Romans 6:17).

Betty A. Burnett ~ burnettministries.org