Still Sinners
Scripture Reading — Romans 3:21-26
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23
Most of us like to avoid thinking about sin.
But that’s hard to do. The concept of sin comes straight from the Bible, and it sure explains a lot. But at the same time the whole idea of sin can feel so … judgmental. So sometimes we simply ignore it, hoping it will go away. At other times we learn to accept it with a tired resignation. (After all, nobody’s perfect!) Yet even as we compromise, we can’t shake the feeling that we’re missing the mark and falling short of something important.
As a child, I thought sin was something to outgrow, like an early bedtime. I remember wondering whether grown- ups even sinned; it was hard to imagine the people in our church ever “being naughty.” I’m now one of those grown- ups—and I know better.
We tend to have mixed feelings when it comes to sin. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That includes both children and grown-ups. And many of us have come to suspect the ugly truth—we’re not going to outgrow our struggle with sin.
Yet God still promises to make us new. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 God assures us that in Christ each of us can become a “new creation.”
How much of a sinner are you?
Lord, you see us more clearly than we see ourselves. Please show us what you want us to discover about ourselves so that we can know your grace and forgiveness more deeply. Amen.
About the author — Ron Vanderwell
Ron Vanderwell recently became the senior pastor of New Life Church in New Lenox, Illinois. He has been a pastor for 22 years, serving as a church planter for the previous 12 years at The Gathering in Sacramento, California, and before that as a pastor in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ron and his wife, Deb, have three sons: John, Adam, and Jake.
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