“For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).1
Contextually the “all” here is not a universal evaluation and indictment of each individual person, regardless of age, mental capacity, and culpability. Otherwise, Jesus himself would be implicated.2 The overarching theme of Romans is that Jews and Gentiles alike stand before God on the same footing. Irrespective of genealogical descent, the obedient receive divine favor and the disobedient face divine wrath (2:6-16); there is no partiality with God (2:11). All are guilty (3:10-12, 23; 5:12), whether Jew or Gentile (3:9, 19), not just one ethnic group to the exclusion of the other.
All “have sinned”3 in the past and “fall short”4 in the present “of God’s glory.” While “glory” [dóxa] has various shades of meaning in scripture,5 here it seems applicable to “the divine presence and the privilege man originally had of direct communion with God…. God’s glory is the majesty of his holy person. To be cut off from this fellowship is the great loss occasioned by sin.”6 Nevertheless, the heavenly plan of justification “is intended to restore something of the glory of God to our lives so that we ‘can see and reflect the glory of the Lord’ (2 Cor 3:18)—and one day come to share his glory fully, in all its splendor (5:2).”7
Just as all have sinned, all are “justified freely by his grace.” God’s grace is freely offered as a gift, but it is of no value unless and until it is received by way of an obedient faith-response to the gospel.8 “What God has given the world in Christ, infinitely great and absolutely free as it is, is literally nothing unless it is taken.”9
The term “redemption” was originally used of “buying back” a slave or paying a ransom for a captive to attain release from bondage; then fig. in the NT for “release” from sin (BAGD 96). Spiritual redemption is “in Christ Jesus,” a prepositional phrase prolific in Paul’s writings. Penitent believers, having been baptized “into Christ” (6:3) are thus “in Christ” (6:11), inextricable from being in Christ’s emblematic body – the church (12:3-8).
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation.
2 2 Cor. 5:21a; Heb. 4:15; 9:28; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5.
3 To “miss the mark” of God’s standard (cf. 2:12; 5:12-16; 6:15).
4 The verbal husteréō essentially means “lacking” (Matt. 19:20; Mark 10:21; Luke 15:14; 22:35; John 2:3; 1 Cor. 1:7; 8:8; 12:24; 2 Cor. 11:5, 9; 12:11; Phil. 4:12; Heb. 4:1; 11:37; 12:15).
5 In John 17:5 Jesus prayed to regain his former dóxa, then said that the dóxa the Father had given him was also given to the apostles (v. 22). All faithful disciples will share in this dóxa (Rom. 2:7, 10; 8:18, 21; 9:23; 1 Cor. 2:7; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:17; Eph. 1:18; 3:13; Phil. 3:21; Col. 1:27; 3:4; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 2:10; Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:7; 5:1, 4, 10); note also the angels (Luke 9:26) and departed saints (Luke 9:31). Various nuances are apparent in Matt. 6:29; Luke 2:32; 4:6; 12:27; 14:10; 7:18; Rom. 9:4; 1 Cor. 11:7, 15; 15:40-43; 2 Cor. 3:7-11; Phil. 3:19; 1 Thess. 2:20; Heb. 2:7; 1 Pet. 1:24.
6 Everett F. Harrison, “Romans,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol 10. Eds. Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976) 41.
7 Roger Mohrlang, Romans in R. Mohrlang and G. L. Borchert, Romans Galatians CBC 14. Ed. P. W. Comfort (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2007) 68, 70.
8 Cf. 1 Cor. 15:1-4; 2 Cor. 6:1; 11:4; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:13; Jas. 1:21.
9 James Denney, “St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans,” in The Expositor’s Greek Testament. Vol. 2. Ed. W. Robertson Nicoll (London; New York: Hodder and Stoughton, 1897) 611-12.
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