The Apostle Paul quotes the Old Testament – which is a Holy Book for both Jewish and Christian people – to drive this thought home.  

 

10 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands, no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one."

13 "Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."

14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."

15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood,

16 in their paths are ruin and misery,

17 and the way of peace they do not know."

18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

 Romans 3:10-18 (RSV)

 

He sums up by saying - 23 …all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 (RSV)  The word sinned can mean to make a moral blunder.  It can also mean to miss God’s standards by a whisker.  Paul says that some of us almost make it, others miss God’s standards by miles, but all of us have failed and are guilty before God’s Law.

 

This leads to another question.  How can Jesus die in the place of more than one person?  If he died for Peter, how can he also die for you?   The answer lies in the fact that Jesus was and is more than a man.  He is God become Man.  He existed in heaven before His birth as a baby at Bethlehem.  Another of Jesus’ friends, John, made this statement, 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.  John 1:14 (RSV) The name ‘Word’ (Greek = Logos) is a title that the New Testament gives to Jesus.  John tells us that Jesus came from Heaven, became a man, lived the life of a man and by studying that life we can find out what God is like.