[Springfield Reformer]

The standard for sin should be set where God sets it.  We imagine the offense of our "lesser" sins to be lighter because it is self-serving to do so.  But the apostolic truth is this:

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

And it gets worse.  You know the Sermon on the Mount raised the stakes, so that overt murder and overt adultery are NOT the measure of sin, but any trace of lust, or any hint of anger without due cause, will bring the condemnation of violation of the law.

But it gets worse still.  Remember what finally convinced Paul he was a sinner?

Romans 7:7-8  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.  (8)  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

So we have it now that even dissatisfaction that leads to wrong desire was sufficient to condemn Paul, and James would further say that such a "victimless" sin, and seemingly so harmless, renders one a violator of God's entire law, and subject to all the horrific consequences stated therein. As someone who has defended clients under Illinois law, this is a defense I know in advance I could never win.  God knows every secret passage in our hearts. No matter how outstanding we may appear to the world, all of us have transgressed some aspect of the law of God's perfect love.  

Romans 3 was designed to show us stripped of all disguise, to reveal our true status before God.  Take the David Challenge.  Ask God sometime to show you if there is any secret way in you that displeases Him.  Anything at all, no matter how small.  Scary thought, true, but if it was good enough for King David, it's certainly good enough for any of us.  And it may amaze you what you will see, perhaps a dead man walking, dressed in grave clothes, ready to be sealed off from life forever, running fearfully in the dark amongst the tome stones, dodging the lightning.

But even this undead Lazarus, still full of sin, can by God's grace be made alive, and given a heart to seek Him, to put away the ways of hatred and lust and covetousness, set aside his grave clothes, and step out into the light of day, and into the arms of Jesus.  And this will happen, if Jesus cries out, "Lazarus, come forth!"

We all need the Savior.  Just some of us know it better than others because we've seen that body of death within us, up close and personal, and we have no illusions about our status before God.  Mary recognized her own need, else she had no reason to call Him Savior. Why should we think ourselves better than her?

Peace,

SR

[annalex]

I generally agree with your post. The purpose of St. Paul thickening the paint in Romans 3 is indeed to remind us that sin is sin, — at least if committed with full knowledge and willfully.

But the fact remains that “all have sinned” is in the context of “venom on the lips” and “feet quick to shed blood”, so unless you are prepared to advance the idea that Mary hastily murdered someone, you need to take the entire passage as a poetic exaggeration, including the “all” in it.