Romans 2:3-9 — And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? but, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

I know that’s a really big text to start this with, but when I read it this morning it really popped out at me.
I don’t expect to avoid judgment. I know that there will be a day when I stand in front of Jesus, and He will confirm my eternal destination.
Time and again, the goodness of God leads me to a recognition of my sins, and an ability — in a very slight way — to see them as He sees them, and to feel about them as He feels about them. The tragedy, of course, is in that phrase “time and again”. In a very real way my repentance is like the sin offering in the temple — effective for a time, but not permanent.
If I read on in Chapter 2 of Romans, there are many other things I understand about my relationship to sin. I know that although I am not under the law as the Jews were under the law, I know that I am under obligation to obey the higher law articulated by Jesus — “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”.
I know that God knows my every secret, and that no matter how good a show I put on, I am a hypocrite. My heart is desperately wicked, more so than I would ever care to reveal to those around me.
When I think about my sinful nature, I know that I am not the only one. Mine is the general lot. In fact that is part of Paul’s message. First he has identified the sinful nature of the gentiles, and now he is calling out the Jews. It is enough to drive me to despair… and yet … as I find in a Dottie Rambo song that Choir is rehearsing just now:

I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary, to view the cross, where Jesus died for me.
How marvelous, His grace that caught my falling soul He Looked beyond my faults and saw my need.

This is such a glorious thing to me. No matter what my desires, no matter how hard I work, no matter what I do, I can never be free of my sinful nature by my own efforts. Looking beyond my faults and seeing my need He laid aside His divine powers and privileges, took on flesh, took up His cross, and paid my price. He gave me freely what I could never obtain in any other way.
Understanding what Jesus did for me is like having Paul hold my hand and drag me with him to the wonderful peak in Chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans:

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31, 32, 39)

How marvelous! Oh the glory!