THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understand, There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, They are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; With their tongues they have used deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

No, this is not the ravings of some present day preacher condemning today’s living generation. It is actually the apostle Paul, writing to the church in Rome. Romans 3:10-18. In the King James version of the Bible, it is also written all in capital letters, which I have not done. That would be unacceptable on the web today.

These words were, and are, spoken of all mankind, for “all have sinned and fallen short.” To most people, religion is the keeping of a set of laws. Remember what Jesus said to the rich young ruler who came to him and asked, What must I do to the saved? Remember that he said of the Law; I have kept all those from my youth up. The Word tells us that Jesus loved him, so that must have been a fairly accurate statement, but it wasn’t enough, was it? His wealth was the major obstacle. Everyone has a major obstacle that needs to be overcome. It effects not only the individual but all those who follow him. Anyone who has watched racing of nearly any type can recall occasions when a leader of the pack makes a mistake and there is a pile up. It is not only the leader that suffers, but what ever happened to him, also happens to many others as well. However, don’t despair, salvation is not earned by good works. We need to overcome whatever may be holding us back; not because of a law, but because we want to serve the Lord and we know it has to be removed before we can do so. In my own case, because of my military service, I could have used the G.I. Bill of rights to go back and complete the university training I had started. I had in fact, already recieved acceptance to return to the university. Had I done so, probably by now I would be more than financially secure for life but what about after that? That training could well have been my own downfall. Our Bible says, he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. There are times in all our lives, when, like a fork in the road, effect everything from there on, including the final destination we all want to reach, Heaven.

Paul was pointing out that there is not one person, no not one, who of himself is righteous. We all need help. We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We read in the book of Acts 2:38, that those who were obedient in baptism, received two things, the forgiveness of their past sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide them from returning to all those things of before ever again. When Jesus forgave the sins of any individual, he always instructed them to go and sin no more. Now, he has sent us the Spirit to guide and be with us, and help us to be living temples. The temple was the dwelling place of God. With the Holy Spirit to guide us, and the Lord within us, there is nothing He wants us to do for Him that we can not do. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” Romans 3:23-25.