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But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
This is truly the way it is. Just as it says that man's righteousness is like filthy rags, even if we follow the law, we are still nothing but sinners before God.
In Romans chapter 3 verse 20 it says,
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Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.
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Also, there are people who are often troubled by a guilty conscience even though they are not zealous in any religious way and have no knowledge of the law of the Bible. You will be able to understand these things if you read Romans chapter 2 verses 14 and 15:
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For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them).
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This happens because God has lit a lamp within man's heart. The Bible says that this lamp is the spirit of man.
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The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart. (Proverbs 20:27)
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If we think about these words, we can see clearly that God first gave the Bible to all of mankind in order to save our spirits. If we continue to carry this great burden of sin until we die, we will definitely come under God's judgment, but God took pity on us and sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to receive the judgment in our place.
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By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all ... But this Man [Christ], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, ... For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10, 12, 14)
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Then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:17-18)
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If you think about these verses, you will be able to see that the death of Jesus Christ was clearly the love of God that provides forgiveness of sins and the way of the eternal salvation that God gives free of charge.
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"So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many..." (Hebrews 9:28)
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God also said that He would no longer remember our sins and lawless deeds.
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"Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." (Hebrews 10:17)
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God has also made it clear that "...where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin" (Hebrews 10:18).
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This sacrifice - Christ's death on the cross - was not like the sacrifices that the Jews offered every year; it was an eternal sacrifice offered once for all. Therefore, long before Jesus was born into this world in human form, in other words, before the Word was made flesh and appeared before man, God said, through the prophet,
"Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart"
(Psalm 40:7-8).
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