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Is Everyone Sinful?

Has this question ever come to your mind? Or has anyone ever asked you to answer it? The question is quite simple to ask, but the answer can prompt a lengthy discussion. We might wonder at the universal scope of the question—that it speaks of everyone. And, of course, we need to know what the word sinful really means.

Before we begin, let me describe something I saw in a science museum when I was a boy. Inside a simple glass case, twelve straight sticks hung suspended in various positions by thin wires. Some sticks were short and some were long. All were hanging at various angles. There seemed to be no sense or pattern to it at all. But one side of the case was not clear. Instead, it was solid with just a single viewing hole in the center. When you looked through the hole you saw the image of a perfect cube, made from of all those suspended sticks! It was as if a three-dimensional cube had been drawn on paper, appearing perfectly square. Until you looked through the hole you could not possibly see the cube. As you can guess, this was a lesson on perspective—on seeing something from different viewpoints. Let's examine this question, "Is Everyone Sinful," from two different perspectives.

The Human Perspective

What is our reaction to the question, "Is everyone sinful?" Most people can agree that sinful implies at least a vague notion of something bad. In fact, many may think that sinful people is just another term for bad people. When considering whether everyone is sinful, most of us immediately think of some wonderful people we've known in our lives, people who truly don't seem to be sinful at all. This is very natural, for even one exception would allow us to reply, "No, everyone is not sinful." There are many people in the world who demonstrate wonderful character, who put other people first in their lives, who actually sacrifice their interests, time, and money to help others. They may be our parents, friends, teachers, or co-workers. To my mind comes an uncle. In all the years I've known him I've never heard him raise his voice in anger. I've never heard him even speak badly of anyone. He has always been kind and generous, faithful to his wife, and helpful to anyone in need.

You probably have already thought of someone you know who would be the exception, even if everyone else was sinful. It is natural to think that if anyone could please God, this person could. At least we would not call such people sinful! To think that everyone is sinful is simply difficult for us to accept.

This is one perspective, the human one. However, is it an accurate one? Imagine people living on a desolate island, totally separated from all other living beings. They know nothing but the island and know nothing of other people on the earth. The food supply is insufficient. Everyone from the youngest to the oldest lives in sickness and weakness. Their lifespan is only forty or fifty years because disease is prevalent. Their situation is not what it ought to be, yet it is all they know. To them it is normal, yet to outsiders discovering them, they are living in unnecessary poverty and disease. Only when there is ground for comparison can a more realistic perspective be gained. This leads us to the other perspective of the question, "Is everyone sinful?".

The Heavenly Perspective (God's Perspective)

In the Bible God has communicated to man all that we need to know of Him and of what He expects of us. First of all, God created us.

"Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves." (Psalm 100:3)

Because God made us, He knows the true standard by which sin can be recognized accurately. Here are some of the terms the Bible uses that can help us to understand what sinful means:

1. Lawlessness
2. Departing from the Lord
3. Not doing the things we know we should do. (Going against our own knowledge of right and wrong)
4. Everyone doing what is right in his own eyes. (This is always associated with man's propensity for abandoning God's ways to follow his own interests.)

Sin means disobeying God's commandments, not just ten of them, but all that God has told us.

This is what God says of man and sin:

"…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)

"Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one." (Psalms 53:3)

To "fall short of the glory of God" has the idea in the original Greek language of missing the mark. It is like an archer shooting an arrow at a target and missing it . We all have missed the mark of God's perfect holiness. If all the people in our country were to try to jump across the Atlantic Ocean to England, there is no doubt that some would make it farther than others. You may be physically fit and able to jump farther than most. But what does it matter that you can jump farther than everyone else? No one could even come close to making a jump across such a distance.

As our maker, God possesses the only accurate standards for His own creation. The things He says about sin must be taken seriously. His perspective is that of the one who made us, of the one who knows the truth of all things. When God created man, he gave him the ability to choose whether or not to obey. Unfortunately, we have all disobeyed, and we have become like the people on the remote island. We are all spoiled because of sin, and we cannot recognize it. It is all we've ever known.

Many may think that one must be a murderer or a rapist or a drug dealer to be a real sinner. Certainly most of us don't fit into these categories. But there is a problem with our categories. We are comparing ourselves with ourselves. We are comparing sinful men with sinful men. Instead we must compare ourselves with God, who is perfect. The Bible tells us that all men are sinners, despite what we would like to think. It is natural for us to want to see ourselves as better than others. But we have all fallen short of God's perfection, the standard by which we are measured.

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10)

Even telling one lie proves that a person is a sinner. If you are honest with yourself you can see that you are not perfect. Again, it is not a question of whether you are a good parent, a good child, a good person. If you are not perfect, you are a sinner. This is the verdict of God, our Creator, and it is true.

The Individual Perspective

It is established by God's word that everyone is a sinner, but there an even more pressing question. Can you accept the fact that you are a sinner? This is nothing personal against you. We humans are all in the same boat. We have all come short of God's perfection. Why is it so important for you to admit you are a sinner? Because only when you accept God's verdict is it possible for you to be pardoned. Jesus Himself said that He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32"I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.") Those who do not see their need will not find deliverance. A man may be warned of a coming hurricane but if he doesn't acknowledge it and believe it he will not take the action he needs to survive. And those who think they are 'not that bad' cannot know or appreciate what the Savior has done for them. They cannot be saved until they see their need.

We read in Romans 6:23 that there is a wage for sin:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Wages are what we earn, what we deserve. As surely as we earn our paychecks by working at a job, we have all earned death because we are sinners. God cannot dwell with anything sinful, so we are on our way to death, spiritual death. This will be an eternal separation from God in a place of great suffering called hell. At this point you may be saying, "Wait a minute! Maybe I'm not perfect, and maybe I'm even considered a sinner by God, but I still don't think I deserve to go to hell." That is a normal reaction, but it shows that you are still caught up in the human perspective. Try to see it from the vantage point of a perfect and holy God dealing with a marred and spoiled creation. The judgment I spoke of sounds extremely harsh to us, and indeed the eternal penalty for sin is beyond our ability to know right now. But if you can admit that you are a sinner and on your way to judgment, you are ready to hear the best news ever to be heard on this earth!

God's Payment

The Bible verse above, Romans 6:23, also tells us that eternal life is a free gift. This is not a free gift like our world offers, where you must buy something else first, or promise to pay something later. You cannot pay for this gift. The cost is too high. Ephesians 2:8 and 9 says:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."

Here we see that "being saved" is a gift. It is not as a result of works. You see, no one can be good enough to compensate for his own sin. There are many things we might list that seem to be good things we can do. But all of these would be useless. Eternal life is a gift, and just as a gift must be paid for by someone else, eternal life was purchased for you and me by God Himself.

"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit" (1 Peter 3:18)

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

"He made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Bible tells us that there is one God who exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, the Son, allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross and gave up His life as an offering for sin. This was all done according to the plan of God because of His infinite love. He does not want to see you suffer in hell forever. That is why Jesus Christ made a way for you to have peace with God, to have all your sins forgiven. Being the Son of God, Jesus was perfect and lived a perfect life. He never sinned, but always pleased the Father in all His actions and even in His thoughts. It seems horribly unfair for such a man to be killed in such a cruel way, yet He willingly accepted it so you and I could be forgiven. God the Father judged sin in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross in order that you and I would never have to bear the load of our own sins. He was our substitute!

Does this not begin to amaze you, realizing how great a love God has for you? He did this for you. Jesus suffered because of love for you. He wants you to be able to live with God in glory forever. He purchased for you the gift of forgiveness, making it possible for every bit of sin to be taken off your account. But not everyone will get this gift, because God does not force it on us. I may offer you a gift, but if you never take it from me it is not really yours. In the same way, you must receive this gift of God's forgiveness in order for it to be yours. The way to do this is clear from the Bible.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

"They said therefore to Him, 'What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.'" (John 6:28,29)

"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:13)

All these verses tell us to believe. This means that you are to take the gift by faith, believing that Jesus has paid the full penalty for your sins. When this is done, as that last verse indicates, you can know that you have eternal life! Eternal life cannot be earned, but is a gift by faith; therefore, it is not presumptuous to be assured that you will go to heaven one day. You can be confident!

These are the simple truths of the Bible regarding sin and salvation from sin:

• All are sinners
• There is an eternal punishment for sin, separation from God in a place called hell
• God does not want you to be lost forever, but God is holy and just. He must punish sin
• God sent His Son to bear the judgment of sin on the cross, so you could be saved
• Jesus Christ died to pay for your sins. This is true for every person
• Jesus was raised from the dead to show that God accepted His Son's sacrifice for sin
• The only thing for us to do is to believe on Him

The Holy Son of God was perfect, and yet willingly gave up His life on a horrible cross to take the punishment for our sins. We cannot think for a moment that any good thing we can do will add in any way to help "pay" for eternal life. We can add nothing to the wonderful grace of God. He offers it to us freely. Will you accept it?