Romans chapters 1 – 3, specifically 1.18 – 3.20, leave us with a dreadful problem:

• We have all sinned
  • Non-religious people have sinned (1.18 – 32)
  • Religious people have sinned (2.1 – 29)
  • All have sinned (3.1 – 18)
• We are all guilty (3.19)
• We are all helpless to do anything about it (3.20)

None is righteous, no, not one…Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3.10, 19, 20)

It’s amazing how many people, many of them church people, don’t understand these basic facts. My friend Jim Singleton, former senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, used to tell this story – maybe it was a composite. Jim would say:

So I’m visiting Mary in the hospital. She’s old, a lifelong church member, and on her deathbed. I say to her, “Mary, it’s unlikely you’re going to get out of here alive. When you meet Jesus, and he asks you why he should let you into heaven, what will you say?” And Mary replies, “Oh, pastor, I’ve worked as hard as I could. I taught children’s Sunday School, I served on every church committee they asked me to, I’ve been as kind to my neighbors as I know how. I hope I’ve done enough.”

Jim continues:

At this point, I have a choice. I can pat Mary’s hand and say, “Mary, of course, you’ve done enough. You’re a faithful Christian.” OR, I can tell her the truth: “Mary, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you haven’t done enough. Do you have a backup plan?”

The good news (that’s why they call it “The Gospel” – the good news) is that there is a “backup plan” – really the main plan, and it’s right there in Romans 3:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus… (Romans 3.21 – 24, ESV)

“For all who believe” – no matter who you are or what you have done.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2.8, 9, ESV)