We cannot see into other people's hearts. Only God can see hearts, and He has told us in His Word secrets about people that we would never guess from looking at the outside.
Do you know what holiness is? It is perfection—absolute freedom from sin or wrong of any kind. God is perfect. He is holy.
In Psalm 145:17 in our Bibles, we see what God says about Himself.
He says He is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works. He has never done anything or thought anything that could be even the least little bit wrong.
Another verse in Habakkuk 1:13 says that God cannot look on sin. He is so pure that when He sees sin. He turns away from it.
When we think of a holiness like that, all our own goodness begins to look like a filthy dirty rag compared to a freshly bleached washed one.
For God, everything that is not absolutely perfect, is sin. Sin is breaking God’s law. God’s law is like a measure, and when the things we do are measured by it, we see how far from perfect they are.
Just think of the commandment which is called the great commandment of the law. You will find it in Matt. 22:36-39. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind...A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.
No one has ever kept it perfectly for one hour! So you see we have all broken the law, and so have all sinned, in fact, having broken the first and great commandment, we are “first and great sinners.”
You cannot see into my heart, to see whether or not I am a sinner, and I cannot see into yours, but God’s Word tells.
I know you are a sinner, and you know I am. God says we are all sinners. That is why Jesus died for us all.
1. The background—God’s holiness —Psalm 145:17; Habakkuk. 1:13.
2. What sin is—Matthew 5:8 with Hebrews 12:14; 1 John 3:4; 1 John 5:17; Romans 14:23b; James 2:10.
3. All are sinners—Romans 3:23; 3:9; 3:12; 3:19; Jeremiah17:9-10.
Adapted Excerpt From: Donald Grey Barnhouse. “Teaching the Word of Truth.”
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