While many in our society proclaim the goodness of man, there is a deep theological problem with that statement, that no man can escape. The first century Roman Philosopher Seneca wrote ““Every guilty person is his own hangman. No matter how often a man tells himself he is good, he inevitably sees that he cannot help thinking, saying, and doing wrong things and feeling guilty about it. This guilt drives people to alcohol, drugs, despair, insanity, and more and more frequently to suicide.” this sounds like a quote from the 21st century! Today men feel guilty because they are guilty. The guilt feelings, however, are only the symptom to the real problem, which is sin. The guilt that we experience today has only one cause – our own sin – and unless that sin is removed, our guilt cannot be removed. That is why the first element of the gospel is confronting people with the reality of their sin. How can a person accept the “GOOD NEWS” of salvation, if they are convinced in their heart that they are not evil enough to need it. In Romans 3:9-20 Paul pictures a courtroom scene, and we are all the defendants in this court. The indictment is brought against us by the Word of God, and this passage summarizes God’s divine and perfect view of man, and concludes with the pronouncement in verse 20 “No man can be declared righteous by anything that he does.” The rest of Romans is devoted to helping us understand how it has been made possible for us to have peace with God (Romans 5:1). Take time today to review Romans 10 and learn how to gain that peace with Christ.