2. Human Sin    

9.12  The reconciling act of God in Jesus Christ exposes the evil in

people as sin in the sight of God. In sin, people13 claim mastery of their own lives, turn against God and each other, and become exploiters and despoilers of the world. They lose their humanity in futile striving and are left in rebellion, despair, and isolation.

9.13  Wise and virtuous men and women through the ages have sought the highest good in devotion to freedom, justice, peace, truth, and beauty. Yet all human virtue, when seen in the light of God’s love in Jesus Christ, is found to be infected by self-interest and hostility. All people, good and bad alike, are in the wrong before God and helpless without God’s   forgiveness. Thus everyone falls under God’s judgment. No one is more subject to that judgment than those who assume  that they are guiltless before God or morally superior to others.

9.14 God’s love never changes. Against all who oppose the divine will, God expresses love in wrath. In the same love, God bore judgment and shameful death in Jesus Christ, to bring all people to repentance and new life.