Hi GitL, St. Paul sums up his great discourse from the first three chapters of Romans with this statement, "
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" ..
Romans 3:23. His point is this, that ALL of us, both Jews and Greeks .. e.g.
Romans 3:9, are lost in our natural, fallen state and in need of a Savior.
The Apostle also describes the previous spiritual condition of believers, IOW, prior to coming to Christ, in his Letter to the church in Ephesus.
Ephesians 2
1 You were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
The question is, do you believe St. Paul was wrong in his assessment of the human race in any of these passages? Are we ALL lost sinners in need of a Savior (which is the point he labors to make), or are there some who are inherently righteous (apart from Christ)?
BTW, I don't believe St. Paul had unborn children or infants in view in
Romans 3:9-12. The discussion there is not concerned with our "nature" or state of being, rather, it concerns what we know, what we understand, and what we do (or fail to do). Our little ones are not capable of any of that.
Yours and His,
David