Most people would agree that the world is indeed corrupt and there is a lot of evil and ungodliness out there. It’s easy to see the sins of others. It is much harder for us to recognise sin in ourselves. This is the issue that Paul broaches in Romans 2. Here, he addresses religious Jews who took pride in the fact that they knew the truth; that they read God’s law and tried to keep it, at least to some degree. They saw themselves as better than those who were ignorant of God’s law altogether. But the more truth we know, the more accountable we are. This consideration upturns the scale. Paul wants to flatten any man-made scale of who is better than who when it comes to religious merit. As he says later: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23). We should be very careful about being ‘shocked’ by the sins of others. This may be a sign that you have lost sight of your own sorry condition. The potential for evil is in each one of us alike. What matters is the ability to see it and keep it in check. If you are unable to see it then you may find that it is expressing itself in ways that you have not yet perceived. That is a bad way to be. A more depraved person than you can nevertheless be better off if he is able to acknowledge his sin while you cannot. God is not concerned with the morality of our lives so much as our ability to live humbly in view of our own shortfalls.
Ask God to show you where sin may have taken hold in your life. Receive Christ’s forgiveness and ask him to begin to transform you.
Read Romans 2:1-16
