One day my youngest son asked about a person in Scripture, “How old was he when he died?” “Very old,” I responded. “Oh,” he said, “then he must have been a good guy.” That’s the way it should be, right? But often it isn’t. As the Teacher in the book of Ecclesiastes acknowledges: “In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness” (Eccl. 7:15). The Teacher knew this didn’t seem right, the “bad guys” should not outlive the “good guys.” Yet it happens all the time.

The Teacher gives us a bit of time to grapple with this injustice before he presents an even more difficult truth. “There is no one on earth who is righteous,” he states, “no one who does what is right and never sins” (v. 20). First, the Teacher points out the unfairness of the long life of the wicked and short life of the righteous, then just a few verses later he tells us that none of us is actually righteous. None of us does what is right and never sins.

We would all agree that there are degrees of wickedness. Adultery is objectively different from the sin of lust, yet Jesus tells us, “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:27). But the fact that we are all sinful is echoed by the Psalmist (Ps. 14:2–3) and the apostle Paul (Rom. 3:10–11). Sin dwells in our hearts, and unseen, private sin is just as devastating to our souls as the outward acts that evil thoughts give birth to. None of us is righteous.