Isaiah 1:6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9 Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Here in Isaiah, the Lord is giving us a description of man. From the head to the feet there is nothing good in him. He is described as having putrifying sores. These have not been bound or closed or treated with ointment. Sin is his problem. Sin remains upon man. Sin has brought death. Man’s heart is hardened. His heart is darkened. His affections are deceitful. His conscience is defiled. Man’s will is corrupted. Sin has affected every aspect of man. He is cursed. He has no hope. No hope except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant. The hope of man lies outside of himself.
John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The hope we have is in God.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
God gave man the law. Righteousness comes by following the law completely. The problem mankind has is seen above. We are sinners. Sinners cannot obey the law. From our head to our feet we sin. Not one member is good.
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Man is a sinner. He is wicked. Except there be remnant he will continue in his sin. Paul is showing us how none have escaped the touch of sin. He has introduced the solution in chapter 1. He is now showing us our state, both Jew and Gentile, before God. We are all guilty before God. We have no ability to right the sin that we have committed. God did give the law. He gave the law to reveal His holiness. It showed us that we were not like Him. The law reveals our condemnation. The law shows us our need for a substitute. Let us continue in Romans on our way to the revelation of the righteousness of God.