Romans 3:19-21

“For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” vs. 20

When Paul wrote to the church in Rome he was addressing Jews who had believed that they were justified, i.e. made righteous, by their obedience to the law. He argued that this system didn’t work anymore. In fact it had never worked, because the purpose of the law was to expose sin. No human being, no matter how hard they tried, could ever do enough to satisfy the demands of the law.

While Paul’s explanations may be difficult for us to follow or even understand, we can see the truth of what he was talking about. Many of us have been taught to follow the Ten Commandments. In some places those commandments are even posted in school classrooms, as if they had the power to improve the morality of children. But knowing rules doesn’t improve behaviors one single bit. At best knowing the commandments only makes us aware of how many different ways we fall short. In fact, we could even argue that kids would be better off not even knowing that there were any rules for their behavior.

The prophet Jeremiah had looked forward to just such a day, a time when God’s law was not taught, and humans simply lived in accordance with the law that had been inscribed on their hearts. That covenant reflects the goodness of our divine image, a gift of God from the beginning.

Thought for the Day: When is the natural goodness of children most apparent?