Romans 3:10-26 – The Problem of Sin/Solution for Sin :: By Sean Gooding

Last week, we explored God’s patience with us as sinners. We can think, ‘hey, we are not as bad as that guy or those people,’ but the truth is ALL sin ends in death. One of the hardest things for people to come to grips with in our world today is who they are. Men want to be women, women want to be men, the older people wish they had their youth, the youth wish they were older, and on and on we go. In this passage in Romans 3, Paul clearly states what and who we all are. We are sinners, every single one of us is a sinner.

Beginning in verse 10, Paul lays out the depth of the sinner that we all are. IN verse 11, no one seeks God. In fact, it is God who comes seeking us.

In verse 12, we are all ‘unprofitable’; we have no value. It may surprise you to know that God does not need us. We do not add value to God when we are saved, and we do not remove value from God if we reject His grace. God is sufficient without us. Our very mouths are evil; our mouths are full of evil and filled with threats.

In verses 16-17, our feet are swift to do evil. In verse 16, we destroy all that we come into contact with.

In verse 18, there is no fear, no ‘respect’ for God in our eyes. Paul concludes that ALL are sinners and fall short of God’s glory.

We live in a world, even in the ‘church’ world that no longer calls out sin, no longer acknowledges that we are all sinners, evil to the core, and have no value at all. We have broken all of God’s laws, and we have done so without remorse and without even the slightest hint of hesitation. Yet, in churches all around us, sin is no longer called out; rather, it is affirmed. Sexual perversion is called ‘love,’ laziness is called all manner of disorders, and we make excuses for people to steal from others and from stores. We reclassify what God calls sin and rebrand it to appease people. But we are sinners, and without Jesus, we are all going to Hell.

Jesus will not judge from an updated, progressive writing of the Books when we stand at the judgment. Oh yeah, I forgot; people don’t fear judgment anymore because we have told them that God is okay with their sin now; He has learned a few things over the millennia. If that is the case, then Jesus was a fool, and His death was for nothing. God negated His sacrifice by reclassifying sin. Sorry, Son, times change.

BUT we know the truth; sin is sin. It was sin 4,000 years ago in the Old Testament, and it is still sin now. Stealing is sin, lying is sin, murder is sin, rebellion towards parents is sin, adultery, making false accusations against your neighbor, and on and on. Yes, you got it; all of it is sin. To sin is to fall short of God’s perfection. That is us; you and I.

Even as saved people, we are sinners. However, in Jesus, we have hope. In Jesus, we can be saved from the penalty of sin, saved from God’s judgment, and restored to right relation with God. Jesus’ perfection makes us perfect, and He welcomes us as His family. This was then and still is the only solution for sin and the sin nature that plagues us.

Take an honest look at yourself and see the sinfulness in your own life, even as a child of God. Let us never grow weary of thanking God for redeeming us, for saving us, and for sending His beloved Son to pay for our sin.

For a brief moment in history, Jesus looked like us, sinful, unable to meet the perfection of God, and then it was completed. But because of that brief moment in history, you and I can look like Jesus for eternity and be perfect and have loving, joyful, friendship-based relationships with God. Sin is our problem, and Jesus is still the only solution.

seangooding@yahoo.ca

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario

 

Living in the Center of the Storm :: By Jan Markell

We don’t get to choose where we are born. And there is no paradise on earth. I have written on multiple occasions about living in a wicked city. Minneapolis, and the greater Twin Cities’ area, is a hotbed of crime, lawlessness, Somali scandal, leftist lunatic politics, and has attracted the second-largest homosexual population in America.

City officials and your average leftist demonize ICE efforts locally—efforts that would throw the illegal bums out. We watched that all of January 2026. It is no better here in the spring of 2026.

Ruled by the Spirit of the Antichrist

I often state that I live in the land of 10,000 lakes, taxes, and terrorists. Bill Clinton dropped 100,000 Somalis on us, so I often state that I live in “Mogadishu on the Mississippi.” The Democrats didn’t care that they had no skills or education and would not assimilate. They would vote Democrat, so that’s all that mattered.

Minneapolis and the surrounding area clearly are ruled by the spirit of the Antichrist. I have reported that we can no longer walk around our dozens and even hundreds of local lakes. There are too many burka-outfitted questionables watching us. One cannot tell if they are carrying a weapon.

Sadly, I have lost just a ton of friends who have had it with all of this, plus sub-zero winters. They have hightailed it to a red state.

Now, my friend Terry James from RaptureReady.com has written quite a brilliant article on the deplorable situation of places like my hometown. I am quoting from several of his paragraphs. Find the full article, “Minions of Minneapolis,” here.

My great friend Jan Markell, head of one of the most Christ-centered ministries of recent decades in America, has spoken and written on the geographical area where her Olive Tree Ministries and Understanding the Times radio program have been located. She has expressed that she senses the demonic influences that have manifested in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

She and I have discussed how this region seems to be the center of Satan’s concentrated attack in very recent times. And the evidence of this demonic assault continues to mount.

A Day to Remember!

Terry then goes on to recount one of the most stunning events of my lifetime. This dates back to the summer of 2009. It was a cool day—not tornado weather, which we know well. He says …

Less than a month after Nathan and I visited Minneapolis, Heaven made a direct statement about wickedness taking place in the city and area, even then, before all the evil we’ve witnessed there in recent weeks.

On August 19, 2009, the first buildings on the downtown side of I94 in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Convention Center and a church, were struck by a tornado. The twister severely damaged the convention center roof, shredded some tents on the grounds, then broke off the steeple of the church, splitting in two the cross atop the steeple before it lifted.

It was 2:01 p.m. that the tornado touched down at Central Lutheran Church, the largest ELCA cathedral in North and South America, where the assembly had gathered for worship.

At the very moment of the storm, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was meeting in a convention in Minneapolis to vote on whether to begin ordaining practicing homosexual pastors. For years, liberals had tried to get this policy change through, but it had always been thwarted.

Pastors and other theologians at the time called the out-of-the-blue tornado a “warning” from God to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which had been meeting to debate a liberalized policy on homosexuality. This is also definitely my thought on this dramatic weather event that produced what was, I believe, a spiritual tornado. At least, I think it was meant to give God’s opinion about that organization’s ungodly decision.

Soros Stirs the Pot

The darkening demonic activity only intensified after that ordeal. We saw it in 2020 with the George Floyd ordeal when 1,000 properties were destroyed. A huge swath of destruction on our south side is still not rebuilt. Soros and Communist influence in our area is intense.

Terry James goes on to relate the latest insanity as he writes …

On Thursday, the Minneapolis City Council voted to begin the legislative process that could potentially lead to the legalization of “adult bathhouses and sex venues. Since 1988, adult bathhouses have been outlawed in Minneapolis.

Those bathhouses, which housed saunas and pools, were almost exclusively frequented by gay men who met up for anonymous sex. As a result, the bathhouses were a hive of sexually transmitted diseases.

Now, the Minneapolis City Council has advanced a measure that could result in bathhouses returning to the city. In a 12-0 vote, the 13-member city council directed staff to explore changes to existing law regarding bathhouses. (“Minneapolis advances measure that could lead to legalization of ‘adult bathhouses and sex venues’” by Luke Sprinkel, Alpha News MN)

The Left never figures out their methods never work. They are dark, anti-biblical, pro-death, and utterly destructive.

Principalities & Powers Attack

But the author does not leave this story on a low note. Terry concludes this way:

In reflecting on my brief conversation with Jan and thinking about that once-great American city, the realization struck. This city, which is obviously under satanic attack, is a target for the Ephesians 6:12 powers and principalities for reasons that make spiritual sense.

This is the area of the world where the gospel of Jesus Christ exploded onto the world in modern times. With the coming of mass communications came perhaps God’s foremost evangelist. It is a name everyone in America recognizes, and this goes for the people of most of the world as well.

September of 1950 was when Billy Graham’s organization was founded in Minneapolis.* The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was the very heart of powerful expansion of the saving message of Jesus Christ.

Jan’s own ministry carries on that all-important push to get the message that Jesus saves—from this geographical area. Is it any wonder Satan and his minions wage war on this Twin-City area that serves as the center for evangelization of America and the world?

Those minions of Minneapolis might seem to have the upper hand in the spiritual battle at the moment. But Jesus has spoken truth, and the victory that will belong to all who believe in Him is already accomplished.

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). 

Thoughtful Analysis

Thank you, Terry James, for your analysis of my hometown. You did it brilliantly, and you didn’t leave us in the dark. You concluded with good news and a solid biblical analysis explaining some things that seemed unexplainable.

Sadly, I am repeating myself here. My hometown is preparing the way for the Antichrist regime, which is waiting in the wings.

(*The Billy Graham Evangelistic Organization moved to Charlotte, NC in 2005. Minnesotans who love the Lord were sad to see them go.)

www.olivetreeviews.org