Not Guilty

(Romans 3)

All we like sheep have gone astray,

Yes, everyone has turned away.

No one has ever kept the law

Without a sin, without a flaw.

There is none righteous, no not one;

None seek out God and Him alone.

Their tongues deceive, their mouths confess

Cursing, lies and bitterness.

They’re quick to kill, and have no love,

They have no fear of God above.

But God has said He will receive

All those who will His Son believe.

It does not matter what we’ve been,

His blood was shed for every sin.

I cannot boast or earn my way

For Christ alone my debt could pay.

I come before the mercy seat,

And bow in love before His feet,

For God has made a way to heaven,

A way to have my sins forgiven.

“Not guilty,” He declares me now

As at the cross my knees I bow.

Not keeping laws, not being good,

But being covered by the blood.

I cannot boast of any deed,

My faith in Christ is all I need.

By Barbara C. Ryberg