Romans 3:23–24

Righteousness by faith in Christ

There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Paul stated earlier (2:11) that God shows no favoritism in dealing with sinners. Those who are disobedient (which is everyone, Jew and Gentile alike) are under his wrath. But that same impartiality also shows itself when God deals with people in grace and mercy. In that aspect of God’s dealing “there is no difference” as well, Paul tells us.

How can he say that? On what does he base his statement? By inspiration the apostle supplies the rationale for his bold assertion: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace.” All have sinned, and consequently all “fall short of the glory of God.” One explanation offered for the second half of that line is that by its fall into sin, the human race lost the glory God gave it at creation, which he fully intended for people to have. That is a plausible explanation that does no violence to the verb paired with it, namely, that all sinned.

But the Greek word here translated as “glory” has another meaning in some contexts. It can also be translated as “praise,” in the sense of approval. A clear example of this occurs in John 5:43,44, where Jesus takes his unbelieving compatriots to task with the rebuke, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise [or approval] from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise [approval] that comes from the only God?”*

* Other examples of this word having the meaning of approval can be found in John 12:42,43 and 1 Thessalonians 2:6.

According to the latter interpretation, Paul would be saying, “All have sinned and lack God’s approval.” Lacking God’s approval is surely a serious indictment, and yet Paul can go on to say an absolutely amazing thing. He continues, “All have sinned . . . and are justified.” The grammar of the original Greek here makes it perfectly clear that the ones justified are the same “all” who sinned. That’s why Paul can say that with God “there is no difference.” All sinned; all are justified.**

** Other passages asserting the worldwide scope of God’s justifying love are Ezekiel 33:11; 1 Timothy 2:3,4; and especially John 1:29 and 2 Corinthians 5:19. Taking away “the sin of the world” and “not counting men’s sins against them” are the equivalent of declaring all people to be righteous, or justifying all people. The counterpart to this teaching, namely, the need for repentance and faith on the part of the individual to receive God’s blessing, is also well documented, both in Paul’s letters (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:15,16; Ephesians 2:8) and in the rest of Scripture (Genesis 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4; Mark 1:15).

How can that be? The answer: because God justifies (declares people just) “freely by his grace.” These two terms are virtually synonymous. Freely means “free of charge, without price or cost.” By his grace means “as a gift.” Because no person has any merit to bring, justification has to come as a gift. Being declared just is something that is done to or for the sinner. It’s not something he does for himself. Therefore, receiving justification as a gift is the only way justification works—and that’s also the way it always works.

When Paul says that all are justified, we need to be careful, however, not to misunderstand him, as though he were saying that all will be saved. That would be the false teaching of universalism. Natural man, wicked and perverse sinner that he is, retains the awesome power to resist God’s grace. In their stubborn unbelief, many people unfortunately refuse to accept Christ’s merit, and they will be lost forever for their unbelief. Our Savior’s sobering verdict, “Whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16), is still true. In the case of those who are lost, unbelief has rejected the righteousness from God that truly was there for them.

Paul’s teaching of general justification, or objective justification as it is sometimes called, has far-reaching implications. It is really the heart of the gospel. Think of what it implies for you personally. If all sinners are justified, then surely you are too—despite all the sins and shortcomings that Satan argues should disqualify you. Because “there is no difference,” God assures you that his grace is for all, including you. Righteousness from God is there—to be accepted by faith.

General justification has great significance also for our outreach and evangelism efforts. If all have been justified, then there is no one to whom you cannot go with the gospel’s good news. You can tell anyone and everyone, “Your sins have all been forgiven by Christ’s substitutionary death. He has earned a robe of righteousness for you. It’s there for you. Accept it; believe it.” (See Acts 16:29-31).

Paul has stressed the absolute necessity of faith if sinners are to receive righteousness from God. But to be true faith, in the sense of trust and confidence, it has to have something to hang on to. It has to have a proper object of trust. Paul now addresses this point.