The Apostle Paul proclaimed in Romans 1:17 that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. Before explaining in detail what this gospel is, he explains why this gospel is necessary and why God’s righteousness is needed in Romans 1:18–3:20 as follows:
1. Everyone is a sinner, whether Jew or Gentile.
2. God is angry with sin and judges it.
3. No one, whether Jew or Gentile, can escape God’s judgment through their own efforts or righteousness.
It is for these three reasons that we need the gospel. However, when we testify about the gospel, the most challenging question is: “Am I really a sinner who must undergo God’s severe judgment?” For those who do not realize they are sinners, witnessing the gospel is like force-feeding food to someone who is full or giving answers to someone who does not even perceive a problem—it is not very meaningful.
Jesus also said that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. People who do not regard themselves as sinners can never feel the need for Jesus. Remember who Jesus was speaking to here? He was speaking to the Pharisees, who considered themselves righteous because they kept the law well. And it is not only the Pharisees; most people, although admitting to having committed some sins, often cannot accept that they are sinners who deserve the punishment of hell. They do not think of themselves as sinners to the extent that they need Jesus’ salvation.
So why is it difficult to realize one’s own sinfulness?
First, it is because, like the Pharisees, people compare themselves to others. Jesus describes the prayer of a Pharisee as follows: “God, I thank You that I am not like other people—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” (Luke 18:11-12) The Bible says of this Pharisee that he was confident in his own righteousness and despised others. People compare themselves to others according to standards of righteousness they set for themselves and see themselves as seemingly righteous.
However, the Bible says: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” After Adam’s sin, we live by our own standards rather than God’s. Therefore, we are always biased, constantly comparing ourselves to others according to our own flawed standards, and mistakenly thinking we appear somewhat more righteous.
A woman was caught in the act of adultery. The so-called self-righteous scribes and Pharisees brought her to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. Moses commanded us in the Law to stone such women. Now what do You say?” Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with His finger. When they kept questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then He bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, and the woman was standing there. (John 8:4-8)
The crowd, which had loudly demanded the death of the sinner, acknowledged their own sinfulness before the Lord’s words.
The Bible proclaims that whether someone is despised or exalted by human standards, all are sinners: even highly respected people like Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King are nothing but sinners before God.
This is true not only individually but also nationally. The Jews, who had the pride of being chosen by the LORD God and the conviction that they were Abraham’s descendants with the Law, compared themselves with all the Gentiles, boasting that they were righteous people. Yet the Apostle Paul asserts that all humans are wicked sinners.
Even though we believers have received forgiveness of sins, if we do not deny ourselves and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in every moment of each day, we can easily live satisfied with our own righteousness, comparing ourselves to others. Why is it that we sometimes fail to forgive or criticize others? Is it not because we use our own standard of judgment, thinking, “I have committed forgivable sins, but the other person has committed unforgivable ones,” and then compare ourselves to others according to that standard? 2 Corinthians 10:12 says: “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves; but they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”
The reason we fail to realize that we are sinners is that we compare ourselves to others. After his sin, David confesses: “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight; so You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge” (Psalm 51:4). Until we acknowledge our sin against God rather than comparing ourselves to others, we cannot truly recognize ourselves as sinners.
Another reason it is difficult for us to recognize our sinfulness is that we fail to acknowledge God’s grace. In East Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Japan, influenced by Confucian traditions, “filial piety” is considered one of the most important virtues. Respecting and caring for one’s parents is seen as a social and moral duty. In communal societies, such as in Africa and the Middle East, elders and parents are respected as transmitters of wisdom and tradition, and families are expected to provide for each other.
The Ten Commandments also command respect for parents, and the New Testament affirms the same (Ephesians 6:1-2). Paul goes further, saying, “If anyone does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, they have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim 5:8). This was a warning within the church to children or grandchildren who failed to properly care for widowed mothers or grandmothers. Those who had received special love and grace from widowed grandmothers or mothers were obligated to honor and repay that kindness. Paul emphasizes that failing to acknowledge and appreciate the care and love provided by one’s mothers and grandmothers is a serious offense—so serious, in fact, that such a person is considered worse than an unbeliever.
What kind of God do we have? We cannot survive even a single second without God’s grace and love. Every aspect of our existence—our bodies, the environment, relationships, and everything in life—is sustained by God’s care and love. Scripture says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). God provides rain from heaven, seasons of fruitfulness, food, and joy (Acts 14:17). He gives life, breath, and all things to all people (Acts 17:25). He waters the earth abundantly, makes grass, plants, and grain grow (Psalm 104), and fills human hearts with satisfaction and joy.
But how do humans respond? Romans 1:20–23 says: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal humans or birds or animals or reptiles.”
Like ungrateful children who forget their parents, humans live in God’s absolute grace yet fail to glorify Him or give thanks. Instead, their thinking becomes futile, their hearts darkened, and they serve idols or themselves. People fail to recognize that they are sinners because, despite living under God’s guidance, protection, provision, and care, they do not acknowledge or appreciate His love and grace. The more we understand the depth of God’s love and grace, the more we recognize our own sinfulness and our failure to give Him thanks.
Finally, why do people fail to realize how sinful they are? Because they do not know God’s standard of righteousness. The Apostle Paul, before meeting Jesus, believed that, like other Pharisees, he could become righteous by strictly following the law. Not only Pharisees and Jews but all religious people in the world often believe they can earn salvation through their own efforts. Paul zealously kept the law and even claimed, “I was blameless regarding the righteousness of the law” (Philippians 3:6). How proud he must have been before meeting Christ!
Yet he later writes, “There is no one righteous, not even one; all have turned away; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10–12). This applies to everyone, but also to Paul himself. Though he had lived so rigorously that he thought himself blameless by the law, he admitted he neither knew God nor sought Him, nor knew the path of righteousness or peace. The conclusion: no one can be justified by keeping the law.
After meeting Christ, Paul confesses: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith” (Philippians 3:8–9).
Paul discovered the true purpose of the law in Christ. The law was given not to bring us to God’s righteousness, which we cannot achieve, but to make us aware of God’s righteousness in Christ and to recognize that we are sinners. Even living as a blameless law-keeper, Paul admitted he was the worst of sinners, realizing that thinking he could be righteous by law was arrogant before God.
Why do people fail to recognize their sins? Because they do not know God’s absolute standard of righteousness. Just as we cannot fully comprehend the depth of God’s love, we cannot grasp His righteousness. We underestimate our sins, fail to recognize our wickedness, and often delude ourselves into thinking we are respectable, even righteous.
Isaiah 6 describes Isaiah seeing the Holy God in the temple, exclaiming, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah even says all human righteous acts are like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) Acts of self-sacrifice or giving to others, while commendable, may still be filthy in God’s sight.
Through the cross of Christ, we confront the holy Lord who judges sin. We realize the strictness of God’s absolute righteousness, which can only be satisfied by Christ giving His life for our sins. We lay down our own standards and humbly admit our sinfulness. Therefore, for the gospel to be truly good news, we must accept that we are sinners to the extent that Christ had to die for our sins and relinquish our own standards of righteousness. We receive salvation because we acknowledge our sinfulness.
To summarize the three reasons people fail to recognize their sinfulness:
We compare ourselves to others, using human standards, and cannot realize we are sinners before God.
We exist only by God’s grace and care, yet fail to acknowledge His love and provision; we live self-centered lives without gratitude or recognition, and so fail to see our sinfulness.
We underestimate our sins because we do not know the depth of God’s righteousness. Only by accepting the level of God’s righteousness, achievable solely through Christ’s sacrifice, do we truly recognize how sinful we are.
As the Holy Spirit helps us understand God’s grace and justice more deeply, we will also increasingly recognize our own sinfulness and be ever more grateful for the salvation from sin granted through Jesus.
