Romans 3

If Paul used Romans 1 to show that we are all capable of knowing God through his creation, and Romans 2 to show that we are all morally culpable(responsible) for our actions, he uses Romans 3 to show that we have all sinned against God. "None is righteous, no, not one" (vs 10); "No one does good" (vs 12), and "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (vs 23).

But upon hearing this some would have naturally responded with a desire to justify themselves by doing good works that uphold the law. Paul anticipated that: "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (vs 20). So the law never had the power to save men, only to show them their sin.

This is called depravity: we are all separated from God by sin, and there is nothing we can do ourselves to close the gap. Sounds hopeless, doesn't it?

But then Paul writes one of the most hopeful passages in the Bible. "[All] are justified by grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith" (vv 24-25). Praise God! It is God who justifies! He sent his Son to die an undeserving death on the cross so that we, who deserve to die, could live forever with him.

If you have salvation it is because you were given salvation. There was nothing you could have done to earn it, and there is nothing you can do to lose it. All you can do is receive it, which Paul says is done through faith. So stop trying to earn your way to right standing with God; put your faith in him and trust him for the grace that is needed to give you eternal life.