ESOCS Devotional 2 September 2025 – Is One Sin Worse Than Another?
MEMORY VERSE: “What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.” Romans 3:9 NIV
TEXT: ROMANS 3:1-18
What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. 3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written:
“That You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are judged.”
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) 6 Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their [c]condemnation is just.
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
10 As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
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The most nerve wracking time for any elementary school kid is when it’s time to pick teams for volleyball, basketball or football. Captains size up their options for the best players, and everyone prays not to be the last one picked.
Thankfully, God is not like us. God sees us all the same. He doesn’t evaluate our actions to see who He wants on His team. God loves and wants a relationship with each one of us. What puts us on His team is not our skill or abilities, but whether we’ve asked Jesus into our lives.
Acknowledging our sinfulness allows us to grasp the depth of God’s grace. In Romans 3:23, the apostle Paul reminds us that, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We were all born sinful. No matter how good we think we are, we’ve all done things that are less than perfect in God’s eyes. And that sin — no matter what it is — separates us from God.
It doesn’t matter how many to-do lists we check off or how hard we strive to be perfect, “a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:28). We cannot restore our relationship with God ourselves.
We are all on an equal playing field when it comes to our need for a Savior, and it cost God equally to have a relationship with us. Whether we grew up in church or far from God, His Son, Jesus, still had to die to pay the penalty for our sin.
Acknowledging our sinfulness allows us to grasp the depth of God’s grace. We didn’t deserve a relationship with God, but He still put us on His team.
CHALLENGES
- Do you ever struggle with the idea of feeling good enough for God?
- How does understanding God’s grace free you from the need to strive or the fear of being unwanted?
- What’s one thing learned today that changes the way you see God?
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, help me to see you the way you truly are, so that I can grasp the depth of your grace, in Jesus name. Amen!
FURTHER READING: 2 Samuel 10-1-9 2 Samuel 10:10-19, Romans 3: 19-31
ESOCS Devotional 2 September 2025
