Allan, would you agree we are all sinners?
1. Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my groaning.
2. Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray.
3. In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order {my} {prayer} to You and {eagerly} watch.
4. For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.
5. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.
6. You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
7. But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.
8. O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; Make Your way straight before me.
9. There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction {itself.} Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue.
10. Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.
11. But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You.
12. For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.
We are only declared righteous in Him. He leads us in His righteousness.
I'm giving you basically the reverse of what you asked to prove my point. It is only in Christ that we can be loved........ IMHO.
We are no better than the worst sinner. It is only by justification that we are better. Again, this is in my opinion.
Ephesians 2
Made Alive in Christ
1. And 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.
4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5. even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6. and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly {places} in Christ Jesus,
7. so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God;
9. not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
11. Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so- called "Circumcision," {which is} performed in the flesh by human hands--
12. {remember} that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14. For He Himself is our peace, who made both {groups into} one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
15. by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, {which is} the Law of commandments {contained} in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, {thus} establishing peace,
16. and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
