There is Not One Person on Planet Earth that Has Not Sinned!
The Bible says in Romans 3:23, New Living Translation, "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." This is not a jocular issue. It is serious! It is like saying "Everyone has the virus!" A statement like that would immediately get the World Health Organization (WHO) scampering for a cure for such a virus that has infected everyone. So, when the Bible says, ". . . everyone has sinned . . ." it should get us all to ponder, not just the fact, but more importantly, the cure! To drive home the point, "everyone" means all?without exception!

Children Sin
Children can be cute, but they sin nonetheless! You don't have to teach a child about sin before he or she commits one. Even before the age of three, lying comes naturally to a child, as does stubbornness. The Bible says, "A youngster's heart is filled with rebellion . . ." (Proverbs 22:15, Living Bible). We are all born in sin, and mostly live in sin. And even though we expect the highest standard of morality in other people, we readily make excuses for our own shortcomings; a sinful act by the way. And there's more.

Teenagers Sin
Today, we are witnessing a world of teenagers who are already masters in armed robberies, rape, drug abuse, alcoholism, forgeries, and various other misdemeanours and vices. The bible describes a typical youth in Proverbs 7:6-23, Living Bible: "I was looking out the window of my house one day and saw a simpleminded lad, a young man lacking common sense, walking at twilight down the street to the house of this wayward girl, a prostitute. She approached him, saucy and pert, and dressed seductively. She was the brash, coarse type, seen often in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner for men to be her lovers. She put her arms around him and kissed him, and with a saucy look she said, "I was just coming to look for you and here you are! Come home with me, and I'll fix you a wonderful dinner, and after that?well, my bed is spread with lovely, colored sheets of finest linen imported from Egypt, perfumed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come on, let's take our fill of love until morning, for my husband is away on a long trip. He has taken a wallet full of money with him and won't return for several days." So she seduced him with her pretty speech, her coaxing and her wheedling, until he yielded to her. He couldn't resist her flattery. He followed her as an ox going to the butcher or as a stag that is trapped, waiting to be killed with an arrow through its heart. He was as a bird flying into a snare, not knowing the fate awaiting it there."

Adults Sin
Adults have not fared any better. They tell the youth to be responsible whereas they themselves are not doing any better. Many adults today are filled with all kinds of immorality. Hear this:
"Can a man hold fire against his chest and not be burned? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with the man who commits adultery with another's wife. He shall not go unpunished for this sin. Excuses might even be found for a thief if he steals when he is starving! But even so, he is fined seven times as much as he stole, though it may mean selling everything in his house to pay it back. But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul. Wounds and constant disgrace are his lot, for the woman's husband will be furious in his jealousy, and he will have no mercy on you in his day of vengeance. You won't be able to buy him off no matter what you offer." (Proverbs 6:27-35, LB)

The Aged Sin
And what about the elderly? Have they indeed escaped a life of hypocrisy? The bible says in Romans 2:1, King James Version, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things."

There you are! Everyone has sinned! And it cuts across gender, skin colour, people in developed, developing, and undeveloped nations, civilized people and barbaric people; indeed, people of all works of life, . . . everyone!

There's More
Romans 3:23, states further that ". . . we all fall short of God's glorious standard." What this means is that no matter who you are; no matter how pious you may make yourself out to be; no matter how you try to look before God, you will always fall short of the standard set by God! So, because of sin, we are unable to measure up to the standard of God, no matter how hard we try. This is a very serious matter. To look like they are okay, some people have even gone ahead to define their own standard, and expect God to accept that standard (Romans 10:3); whereas, Isaiah says categorically, that "We are all infected and impure with sin. When we put on our prized robes of righteousness, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves we fade, wither, and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away." (Isaiah 64:6, Living Bible) So, no matter how good we want to look, God says, we will always fall short of His glorious standard or righteousness!

The Power of Sin
In the Epistle to the Romans, we read about the experience of Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, which is the experience of all human beings, that reveals the power of sin; he said, "I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate. Since what I do is what I don't want to do, this shows that I agree that the Law is right. So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me. I know that good does not live in me?that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it. I don't do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do. If I do what I don't want to do, this means that I am no longer the one who does it; instead, it is the sin that lives in me. So I find that this law is at work: when I want to do what is good, what is evil is the only choice I have. My inner being delights in the law of God. But I see a different law at work in my body?a law that fights against the law which my mind approves of. It makes me a prisoner to the law of sin which is at work in my body. What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death?" (Romans 7:15-24, Good News Bible)

Sin is so powerful that it craftily uses the word of God to get us to do what is sinful before God. Human beings are so weak that they are unable to overcome the power of sin; hence, they are at the mercy of sin; or so it seems. For the apostle cries out "Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death?"

Is There a Cure for Sin?
Indeed, is there a way out of the sin quagmire? Since everyone has sinned, and, ". . . the wages of sin is death . . ." (Romans 6:23, King James Version), it then means that "everyone" without exception shall surely die! And we are not speaking of dying in the natural only, but also, dying in the spiritual, which means to be separated from God forever?eternally! And since sin is so powerful that it controls all who are under its power, which is everyone, it would seem that all human beings are doomed.

But there is a way out of this situation. And though we have all sinned, yet we all do not have to wallow and die in our sins. The full verse of Romans 6:23 reads, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." So, even though all have sinned, and all have the sentence of death hanging over their head, yet all have a chance to escape this death, through Jesus Christ the Lord.

Jesus Is The Cure
Furthermore, following Paul's query in Romans 7:24, in the next verse, v.25, he provides us with the answer to his dilemma: "Thanks be to God, who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ! This, then, is my condition: on my own I can serve God's law only with my mind, while my human nature serves the law of sin." Paul arrived at a conclusion, which we shall attempt to explain here: there is the spiritual nature and there is the human nature that is available to all of mankind. Human nature is the nature of man that delights in sin and desires to sin. And even though in his mind he knows that it is wrong to do the wrong thing, he is unable to stop himself from doing it. For instance, a pig cannot help wallowing in filth because that is its nature. If an individual is able to permanently put away the human nature that delights in sin, and in its place acquire the spiritual nature, which delights in God's way, desires to attain to God's standard, and detests sin with a passion, then he is able to overcome sin and then he can be cured from the stranglehold of sin. This can only be done through Jesus Christ the Lord, the Son of God! How?

Let me provide an illustration that explains how sin is dealt with: if it were possible to take a goat into a church meeting and instruct it on the ills of eating grass with a view to making it stop eating grass, it may indeed stop eating grass, but only for a very short while, because, soon, its nature, which is wired to eating grass will kick in, and he'll be back to eating grass, with the guilt of its inability to resist eating grass hanging over it like a 'sword of Damocles'. The only way to stop our goat from eating grass is not just to preach against eating grass, but also, to change its nature from a grass-loving nature to a grass-hating nature. Such can only be achieved by divine intervention! This is quite the same thing for man. His nature which is tilted toward sin has to be changed to a nature that detests sin, and then the preaching against sin can be effective and effectual in his life. This can only be achieved by divine intervention, through Jesus Christ!

In Romans 6:6-13, Good News Bible, the Bible states, "And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. For when we die, we are set free from the power of sin. Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again?death will no longer rule over him. And so, because he died, sin has no power over him; and now he lives his life in fellowship with God. In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus. Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self. Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes."

So, through Jesus Christ, we are dead to sin, and our old nature?that human nature that delights in sin and desires to sin?has been done away with, and the nature of Christ, which delights in God's way and desires to do God's will, has been put in us, thus enabling us to live for God and live up to His standard.

In Romans 8:1-4, Good News Bible the Bible again states, "There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death. What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned sin in human nature by sending his own Son, who came with a nature like our sinful nature, to do away with sin. God did this so that the righteous demands of the Law might be fully satisfied in us who live according to the Spirit, and not according to human nature." So, by living in union with Christ, we are able to overcome the weakness of human nature. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ was able to overcome sin, we are able to overcome sin also, when we live in union with Him. Living in union with the Lord Jesus Christ requires that we first admit to our sinful way of life, renounce sin, and surrender our lives to His care. That way, we can live in union with Him, and are empowered by His Spirit which enables us to overcome sin and its hold over us!

Administering The Cure for Sin
"God says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool." (Isaiah 1:18, Good News Bible)

God removes the stain of sin in our lives by washing us with the word of God and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. These are the only 'washing agents' known to cleanse from sin. But it will take admitting that you are a sinner before you can access these 'sin-cleansers'. For instance, you go to the cleaners because you have dirty clothes to wash. Admitting that you are a sinner is like taking your dirty clothes to the laundry. If a person insists that he has no dirty clothes (even though he has), he wouldn't need to go to the laundry, and his filthy clothes will remain filthy.

The Bible says in Proverbs 28:13, Good News Bible, "You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you." And in John 9:39-41, Good News Bible, "Jesus said, "I came to this world to judge, so that the blind should see and those who see should become blind." Some Pharisees who were there with him heard him say this and asked him, "Surely you don't mean that we are blind, too?" Jesus answered, "If you were blind, then you would not be guilty; but since you claim that you can see, this means that you are still guilty.""

The Pharisees did not understand that the Jesus was extending a helping hand to get them to admit their sins, but they insisted that they did not need His help and so sin remained in their lives, with the sentence of eternal death to go with it! This is exactly what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when God came to them after they had sinned and wanted them to admit their sinfulness, but instead, they pointed the accusing finger at others?Adam at Eve, and Eve at the serpent?and sin remained till this day! (Genesis 3:1ff). Sin is destroyed when it is exposed, but thrives when it is covered; hence, God demands that we admit our sinfulness, so that sin's power can be broken in our lives. Sin is like a virus that dies when it is exposed to sunlight, but thrives when it is covered in obscurity!

So, regardless of your age, gender, the depth to which you may have fallen in sin, and the evil plans that you may have executed, if you admit that you are a sinner and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, He will deliver you from the stranglehold of sin and save your soul from destruction in hell. For the Bible says, "If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved. The scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed." This includes everyone, because there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to him. As the scripture says, "Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved."" (Romans 10:9-13, Good News Bible)

In summary, this is how the cure for sin is administered: acknowledge that you are a sinner who needs a saviour; believe with conviction that Jesus died for your sin, that He was raised from death for your freedom, and as a result, you are free from sin, thus making Him the Saviour you need! This is what is simply referred to as "call to Him". Furthermore, the Lord Jesus says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it." (John 3:16-17, King James Version)

Indeed, the cure is a very simple one, once you acknowledge that you are a sinner, call upon Jesus for your salvation with faith and you shall be saved from sin, and also from God's judgment upon all sinners. So, come to Jesus today, call on Him, and He will save you from the destruction of sin and give you eternal life.

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