Take a moment to read Romans 3:1-20 before reading the devotional below.
So far in this letter Paul has said that we all sin in all kinds of ways, that we can’t judge other people’s sins because ours are just as bad, and that Jewish people cannot assume that they have special privilege with God simply because he chose them for a purpose. We learn more about that purpose today as Paul asks, “What good is being Jewish if we don’t have a special standing with God? Did something change?” His answer: God wanted to tell the whole world something through the Jewish people. God wanted everyone to see that his law (that we could title “How to Be Perfect”) was impossible for humans to keep, even when they knew all the right answers.
Paul makes the case that God has not abandoned his special people, but rather he was faithful to carry out his plan through them and bring the long-awaited Messiah. He quotes multiple Psalms, reminding his Jewish readers that God has been saying the same thing the whole time. No one can ever be perfect, even when they are told exactly what to do.
Here’s your freedom for today: you are no better or worse off than anyone else. We all stand before God in about the same spot: missing the mark. If you are playing darts with a bunch of friends and you all miss the target completely, it really doesn’t matter which of you was more off than the others. You didn’t get any points and you certainly weren’t even close to a bulls-eye. The amazing news is that God doesn’t not demand that we hit a spiritual or moral bulls-eye to be in relationship with him or participate in his kingdom. He knows we can’t do it. He needed to prove to us (through the Jewish people) that no one could do it no matter how many times they tried. Together they couldn’t. Individually they couldn’t. So Jesus did. We’ll see more about that in the coming days…