"But now..."

If you were to read the first two-and-a-half chapters of the book of Romans in the New Testament you would not walk away feeling all warm and fuzzy about yourself and your standing before God. The Apostle Paul, the author of Romans, makes his point quite clearly: God is holy, we are not holy, and that is a big problem for us.
And nobody gets off the hook. Paul continually uses words like "all" and "everyone" and "none of them" to describe the universal nature of sin. Sin affects everyone who has every lived and even our best efforts at God-pleasing righteousness fall dreadfully short. With vivid clarity he describes mankind, the pinnacle of God's creation, in total rebellion against his Creator. Romans 3:20 says, "No one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what His law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it." That is why I am eternally grateful that the book of Romans does not end there.
Then hope turns on the hinge of God's truth with the words: "But now..." For weary and downtrodden sinners hope emerges through the sacrifice of the Son of God. While no sinner is deserving of salvation or can earn their salvation, the offended God offers the rebels a free gift of grace through the sacrifice of His Son. A purchase price for mankind's sins is paid as Jesus, the sinless payment, dies upon the cross in the place of sinners. God provided, He "set forth," the only one who can reconcile a holy God to unholy mankind: the God-man Jesus Christ.
Sin brings nothing but destruction. Nothing but problems. And nothing but separation from God. "But now" there is hope because of Jesus.