still working on a paraphrase of Romans...

Take a look at scripture when David repents of his sin, David says to God, I’ve sinned against You and you only but You are completely righteous and have every power to condemn me and then forgive me. You righteousness prevails over all! (Psalm 51:4)  then another question pops up: “If our unrighteousness clearly demonstrates God’s righteousness why does He punish our unrighteousness? We’re actually helping people see God’s power when we sin! Right? (I’m just throwing out this question to prove my point.)

The answer to that question is: No way! God is fair. He doesn’t play those kinds of games. Remember, He’s God and has ever right to judge every living person on the face of the Earth.

Believe it or not, there are many who actually think that way. And when they do, it’s slander against God and all believers. They say, “I can sin all I want I’m helping to promote God’s mercy by creating this wild life that ends with God intervening and saving me.” Thanks crazy talk! And they will be condemned for their cheap rationalizations.

So back to your basic law abiding Jews. What about them? Are they a cut above the rest? No. It doesn’t matter who you are. You ‘re a sinner. The good, the bad, the Jew, the non-Jew… We all sin. Period.

The book of Psalms backs me up on this.
Righteousness alludes us all.
No one is righteous- outside of God
No one is wise- outside of God
No one is spiritually passionate- outside of God.
We’ve all gotten lost. We are all a mess.
We’ve all taken a wrong turn.
We’re all counterproductive.
Our lives don’t work outside of God.
None of us!

Our words are dead. The breath of those outside of God smells like death warmed over. They are living a lie when we rely on their own righteousness. Our words are poison from a viper. They aren’t even above murder to get their way. Destruction and misery follow them all the days of their lives. And they will never dwell in the God’s house. Peace will be illusive. And they have no awe, passion, or heart for God. They wouldn't see God even if He was standing right in front of them.

It's clear that the law was given to people so that they could understand God's standard and to keep them from rationalizing and to make it crystal clear the standards of God. And even in a broader, deeper, and more universal sense, it declares to the world that we are guilty. Law don't save us. They point simply underscore our helplessness to overcome the blight of our sins. But this is where the story turns.There is an answer to this dreadfully bleak problem of our spiritual helplessness. Moses and the prophets knew it.

No matter who you are, Jesus Christ, God's Son, took our place and He performed the feat of perfection that we could never do. Because we're all sinners. We all fall short of God's renown and His standard for life. Through the gift of his freely given grace, we are forgiven by Holy God. Yes! The cost of our sin was the life of God's son. It was the one and only exchange would work.

God didn't hold back His grace. What sacrifice! He made a covenant with made and it was paid and signed in the blood of the one perfect offering- His Son. God held back His anger toward sins past, present and future. It is a reflection of God's character: divine and merciful. So this is the agreement between God and man. If we have faith in Jesus, the Holy Judge Jehovah declares us, "Not guilty."

So then, where are the bragging rights of the law abiding, prideful religionists? They're counted as meaningless. It's either faith in Jesus or you are on your own. (Please note: Nobody has ever made it on their own.) The law and salvation don't even share the same equation and never shall they meet. We're talking apples and oranges. So is God for the Jews? Yes. Is He for everybody else? Yes again. So it doesn't matter how you got here, who your parents and grandparents are, the shading of your skin or the accent of your lingo. The same faith can save anyone, anywhere, at any time.  So what about the law. Some might say, "Who needs it, then?" The answer is clear. We do. It still must stand. Again it's apples and oranges.