The verse that followed The guilt

​The verse was one I knew well.  I had memorized it as a child and was assured of its truth.  Romans 3:23. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” It was part of the Roman road that a believer could memorize to instruct a seeking believer in how to be a Christian.  Romans 3:23 was step one.  Everyone needs to know they are a “sinner”. So Romans 3:23 is a one verse wonder in making it clear how utterly sinful we all are.  The subtlety of this knowledge became a tool of the enemy to condemn, criticize and judge.  “All have sinned”. “You’re a failure!” “You’re a sinner” you have no value.  Then I read it in context.  The very next verse asserted the more fully developed truth that there is a solution for the sin!  Romans 3:24!
“And are justified freely as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. There was victory!  There was liberty and just as strong as verse 23 identified the “sin”, verse 24 stands to clearly declare the grace of Christ that justifies the sinner and is discovered clearly by its context!  Praise God!

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