Romans 3:10-23

¹⁰As Scripture says, “No one does what is right, not even one.

¹¹No one understands; no one seeks God.

¹²Everyone has turned their backs on him; everyone does what is totally wrong. No one does what is good, not a single one.

¹³Their throats are like an open grave; their tongues spread deceit; their lips ooze with the venom of snakes.

¹⁴Their mouths are full of bitterness and curses,

¹⁵and they are quick to cause pain and death.

¹⁶Their way leads to disaster and misery;

¹⁷they don't know how to live in peace.

¹⁸They don't care about respecting God at all.”

¹⁹It's clear that everything in the law applies to those who live under the law so that no one could have any excuses, and to make sure everyone in the whole world is answerable to God.

²⁰For no one is made right before God by doing what the law requires. The law only helps us recognize what sin really is.

²¹But now God's character of goodness and right has been demonstrated. It has nothing to do with law-keeping, even though it was spoken of by the law and the prophets.

²²This character of God that is good and right comes to everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ, those who place their confidence in him. It doesn't matter who we are:

²³We have all sinned, and we fall far short of God's glorious ideal.