November 30 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Romans 3:9-18:

⁹What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
¹⁰As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
¹¹There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
¹²They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
¹³Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
¹⁴Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
¹⁵Their feet are swift to shed blood:
¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways:
¹⁷And the way of peace have they not known:
¹⁸There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Devotional

Man was created good, righteous and holy. But man fell from his high state and became positively wicked. How did this come about? Through the instigation of the devil. The devil in the form of a serpent came into paradise, that beautiful garden, and induced the woman to eat of the forbidden tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And she gave also unto her husband of it, and he did eat. The deed was done. The sin was committed, God's command was broken. Man was not compelled to obey God, but he deliberately transgressed his command. And by wilful disobedience he deprived himself of the image of God, and the power to obey God. Instead of having intimate fellowship with God, he now fled from God. He had become God's enemy, and that was not all; but his children, and all the generations that came after him were conceived and born in sin, unapt to any good, and prone to all evil. "There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that doeth good, no, not one." They are all wicked and prone to hate God and their neighbor. They are slaves of sin, subject to death and eternal condemnation, totally depraved, and they cannot save themselves from this condition. "God's justice requires that sin, which is committed against the most high majesty of God, be also punished with extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment both of body and soul." Heidelberg Catechism 11. So great is our sin and misery.

Prayer.
O God, help us to realize that Thou art a holy and righteous God. The wicked cannot stand before Thee. We all have sinned, and if Thou wouldst deal with us after our sins, and reward us after our iniquities, there would be no hope for us. But there is forgiveness with Thee. We cannot understand it: but in Thine infinite wisdom Thou hast provided a way of salvation for us. Help us to realize our sinfulness, and to put our trust in Thee. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Gen. 3:6; Rom. 3:10-12.

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