The problem with man

Tom preached a wonderful illustration this morning about sin and how no one can come to God on their own.

Sin = missing the mark. For example archery: If you miss the Bull's eye, you've missed the marked.

Now the problem with us is that we're blind, so we can't even see the target we need to aim at.
Oh, we're also facing the wrong direction. So we aren't aiming the right way.
Plus we're dead, we can't even pull the string to try and shoot the arrow.
And to top it all off, we have Satan saying to us, "You're facing the right way, good job. Keep going, You're hitting the target!"

This puts the following verses in perspective.

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (we miss the mark)

Romans 3:10-12 "as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.' " (Paul is quoting verses from Psalms 14:1-3 & Psalms 53:1-3)

Wow, no wonder we're in need of a Savior! And that salvation from sin is got by trusting in Jesus and His work on the cross; by faith not works. Christ has to work in our hearts to change us - to help us see, face us in the right direction, make us alive, and to tell us the truth. Praise God for His marvelous grace and mercy - which is free to all who believe.