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To: Quester
The passage doesn't say that all are wicked ... merely that All have sinned (to a more or less extent ... in their lives).

"As it is written: There is not any man just. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. All have turned out of the way; they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, there is not so much as one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have dealt deceitfully. The venom of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery in their ways: And the way of peace they have not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes" Rom 3:10-18

These words are spoken about the wicked in the Psalms that Paul is quoting, not man in general, brother.

While NO ONE can say they are sinless, I believe the point Paul is making is that the Judaizers were no better than the Gentiles. The Jews were proud in their Law and their customs and their circumcision. They felt that one had to become a Jew first before coming to Christ. This defeats the purpose of Christ's efficacious death on the cross. Paul defends some of the Gentiles in chapter 2, saying some were spiritually circumcised and followed the Law written on their hearts. This is NOT what the Judaizers thought about their Gentile "brothers". Thus, Paul quotes from the Psalms of David, who attacks JEWS (wicked ones, of course)... Thus, as David was frustrated by wicked Jews, so, too, was Paul. God is not a respecter of persons. Even Jews. God is a God of Jews AND Gentiles. Thus, I believe that Paul's primary point in Romans 1-4 is to say that the Jews are not without the need of Jesus Christ's saving work AND that for one to receive Christ's redemptive grace, one didn't have to become a Jew first - because man is saved by faith. Even Gentiles with faith in God!

Merry Christmas, brother

2,872 posted on 12/23/2006 2:00:48 PM PST by jo kus (Humility is present when one debases oneself without being obliged to do so- St.Chrysostom; Phil 2:8)
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To: jo kus
Merry Christmas, brother

Merry Christmas, jo kus.

2,983 posted on 12/26/2006 1:47:14 PM PST by Quester
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