All have sinned. [Ro 3.23]

Romans 3.23 KJV

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 

Most of the verses in my brain are in the King James Version, ’cause when I was a kid in Sunday school, that’s the translation they had us memorize ’em in. But in junior high they switched us to the then-brand-new New International Version, so I have a few verses embedded in my brain in that translation. That’s how I remember Romans 3.23 now: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Yeah, it’s the same, but fall short instead of come short. The word they’re both translating is ὑστεροῦνται/ysterúnte, “come too late, lag behind, fail to achieve, come up short.” If you’re trying to get to the post office just before it closes, you didn’t make it; your stuff’s getting postmarked with tomorrow’s date. Lost the race, didn’t have enough to pay the bill, flunked the test, missed the deadline. The number of karmic points you figured you’ve racked up? Not remotely close to enough.

So if you somehow thought you had achieved God’s glory, nope. If you thought you came really, really close—and who knows; maybe you actually came farther than anyone else!—it wasn’t enough. The way some preachers talk, not only has nobody come close; everybody sucks. Even the very best of us deserve to burn forever in hell. I don’t share their pessimism; I think there are some very good people out there. Jesus was certainly impressed with John the baptist. Mt 11.11 But even John the baptist, good as he was, falls short of God’s glory. So close, yet not close enough.

If this bums you out… well you really oughta read the whole context of this verse. Paul of Tarsus is trying to not bum you out—by pointing out how even though everybody falls short of God’s glory, God can nonetheless make us right with him. If we wanna be saved, God’s made it so he can save us.

Romans 3.21-26 KJV

21But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Christ Jesus is the sacrifice for our sin. Jesus is God; even though the scripture refers to “God” and “Jesus” as two persons, the two are one God, and this is really describing self-sacrifice. If we trust in Jesus’s sacrifice for our sins—if we trust Jesus—this is the sort of faith God is looking for, and this is the sort of faith he counts as righteousness. He justifies us by our faith.

Really, he justifies everybody by their faith. Dispensationalists claim back in bible times, God actually did save people once they were good enough; once they perfectly obeyed the Law of Moses. Verses 25-26 right here are saying just the opposite. The reason God forgave people in times past, and didn’t smite them despite how often they violated the Law, is because he transcends time, and so does Jesus’s sacrifice. Even though Jesus’s death happened centuries or millennia later, it covers them too. And even though they didn’t know anything about Jesus and what he would one day do, if they nonetheless trusted God to save them, he would. Same as he did Abraham.

So if you’ve sinned and fallen short of God’s glory: Well, stop sinning. Repent. But if you’re worried your sins, both past and future, make it impossible for you to be saved: They do not. If you’ve fallen short of God’s glory, relax; so have I, so has everyone. But your sins, no matter how many, are in no way mightier than God. They can’t stop him from forgiving you, declaring you righteous, adopting you, and bringing you into his kingdom.

Quoting it for the wrong reason.

When I was taught this verse, it was because my Sunday school teachers wanted me to be able to kick the legs out from under anyone who thought they had enough good karma to get to heaven without Jesus. If a person said, “Oh of course I’m going to heaven; I’m a good person,” I could pull this verse out of context, ignore the positive message it’s meant to teach, and say, “No you’re not a good person, for ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ Nobody’s good enough; everybody deserves hell.”

There are evangelists who spend a significant part of their message telling people they suck. I once attended a teachers’ conference where the keynote speaker was this one evangelist whose deal was showing people they’re sinners. Whenever he met a person who insisted they were good (or good enough for heaven, anyway), he’d break out the Ten Commandments and go down the list. He’d interpret them the way popular Christian culture usually does.

• “No other gods before me,” he’d quote, then list the usual idols people have, and help these people realize by golly they were idolaters.
• “Keep the sabbath day holy,” and they’d confess yeah, they’ve done some rather unholy things on their sabbaths.
• “Thou shalt not bear false witness” he interpreted as lying, and everyone’s lied.
• “Thou shalt not murder”—he’d immediately leap to Jesus’s statements about how hating their neighbor is just as bad, Mt 5.21-22 and yeah they’ve hated people; they’re kinda hating him right now for making ’em feel so rotten.
• “Thou shalt not steal”—yeah, many have done that.
• “Thou shalt not covet”—yeah, most people covet.

So, he’d conclude, they were dirty sinners who’d fallen short of the glory of God. They too needed Jesus.

Just speaking for myself: I have never encountered a pagan who felt they were good enough for heaven on their own. All of them admitted to being sinners; we all sin. All of them recognized they needed God’s grace. That was never the issue. The issue was always whether Jesus is the exclusive way to get to God. Other religions have told ’em otherwise, so they’re thinking there are multiple paths, and they’d really like a path which’d get them around certain Christians for whom they do not care. Yeah, I know the feeling, dude.

So I’m leery of those evangelists who claim they somehow only encounter people who think they’re worthy. Where are they finding all these narcissists?

Okay, I suppose if you find someone delusional enough to believe they merit heaven because of their own pure virtue, you could try insisting, “Well the bible says all have sinned.” But if they’re this kind of deranged, they won’t believe the bible. They’ll trust themselves. For all the good it does ’em.

But ordinarily I don’t agree we should first convince people they’re dirty sinners before we share Jesus. They’ll easily accept the idea, “All have sinned.” Yep, we sure have! This world wouldn’t be such a mess if this weren’t true. This world needs Jesus. And if they just trust him, they’ll be saved.