This weekend when I was at the Love Winston-Salem Community Fair I was telling the salvation message to children through the use of a colored beaded braclet. The gold bead represented heaven. I asked the children what they knew about heaven and then explained a few things that I knew about heaven to them. Then came the black bead. That's the problem bead, the sin bead, the naughty bead that separates us wheither we are 5 or 55 from going to heaven and living eternally with our loving but holy Father. It struck me when I was reading about sin, how I explained sin to a five year old. One might think that children are incapable of sinning but I say have you ever taken anything that wasn't yours, have you ever hit your brother, sister, or friend, have you ever not lisitened to your mommy? In time they get the point. God says we are born with a sin nature. It comes easy to us to sin. I'll tell you about he other colors tomorrow if you're interested.
Romans 3:9-31
All People Are Sinners
9 Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles,[a] are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous— not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”[b] 13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.”[c] 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[d] 15 “They rush to commit murder. 16 Destruction and misery always follow them. 17 They don’t know where to find peace.”[e] 18 “They have no fear of God at all.”[f]
19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
Christ Took Our Punishment 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses[g] and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.[h] 31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.