| |
ROMANS 3:23 “FOR ALL HAVE SINNED, AND FALL (COME) SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.” (KJV, NKJV, NIV, NET, NASB, RSV)
“Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal.” (TLB)
There is a universal condition to us all…we have all sinned. I honestly believe most of us know this. We can do a lot to disclaim it, even ignore it. But deep down, even if we aren’t familiar with the doctrinal basis for this belief, something inside us tells us we are all lost.
Modern, cultural determinism has decided that since all we can know and see must be proven and found in our natural state, a condition of sinfulness, even good and bad, must now all be relative. If God cannot be seen, He must surely not exist. If He does not exist, then our old model of good and evil is unreal. At best, we hope that if we are “good enough,” whether we believe in our lost state or not, an unseen judge, if there is one, will weigh our good to be more than our bad.
I found it interesting when the actor Kirk Cameron interviewed as many millennials as he could find on the streets and began asking them if they really thought they deserved to go to heaven, most acted as if they believe in a heaven and God, even though most admitted they didn’t know Him. When asked if they ever sinned, most found it difficult to identify specific sins in their lives yet generally acknowledged that they were sinners.
When we became a fallen race at the initial fall of Adam and Eve, God put in us an innate sense that we all need Him, whether we want to admit it or not. The knowledge of good and evil now means our bent is toward evil, not good. The very evidence we all must admit if we are honest is that our attempts to live “good” lives come up very short all the time. When Paul stated outright in Romans 3 that we have all sinned, I think he kind of knew from experience that it is a fact…we all know we have sinned. The trick isn’t knowing it. The true objective is knowing we are sinners and caring enough that we will do something about it.
A lot of us as Christians have gone through evangelism courses in our church or Bible Study group with the intention of telling others about Jesus and maybe, helping them to give their lives to Him. A common, well-known method of doing this is the usage of what has become known as “the Roman Road.” Romans 3:23 is the beginning Scripture on that road.
Quoting this verse reminds those we speak to that we have ALL sinned. Even those of us who have already been saved remember that we too were sinners and now, are trying to do our best to let the Holy Spirit live in us to help us to learn to NOT sin. But, the message is that we all know we have sinned, there is a cost or consequence for those sins (“The wages of sin is death.”) and the good news is that Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross. If we acknowledge that, accept it and believe it in faith…if we repent of our sins, He promises to forgive us for our sins and literally give us eternal life (we already memorized John 3:16). That is the Gospel!
The temptation of course…especially in our overly self-gratifying culture…is for us to think we are already good enough on our own. Some might think that God grades on a curve, and that if we try hard enough, if we can be good enough, or if we can at least be good more often than we are bad, He will understand and give us that free eternal life, even if we don’t ask for it. Big mistake.
I love the image I included above of “falling short.” Not only do we all sin, but we all fall short…at least fall short of the glory of God. We think we can go fast enough, hard enough, sincerely enough that we will charge across the finish line, if at least by sheer momentum. I don’t intend to find out or prove this. But I imagine that hell will be filled with people who weren’t necessarily evil or “bad people.” They thought they knew the finish line would be coming some day, but in their carelessness decided to do it on their own and, much to their surprise, found out that just short of the finish line, they fell on their faces having waited too long and just ended up falling into hell.
There is no passage that scares me more than the text where Jesus said some in hell would claim, “didn’t we preach in your name, prophesied in your name, even cast out demons and did many wonders?” He said that He would declare to them in that day, “I never knew you.” Talk about falling short!
We all fall short of God’s glory. Imagine, though, playing church your whole life to only find out in the end that even that fell short! Jesus said that He will tell them in that day, “Depart from me!” Does Jesus know you?
All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God! That will naturally bring us to our next verse on the Romans Road…Romans 6:23. We will memorize that verse next. Wages of our sin is death. But guess what? The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ! We do not have to suffer eternal damnation in hell. Jesus has paid the price for that. The condition of every man and woman born to Adam’s race is condemnation because we have all sinned! The price for those sins must be paid. Jesus did that for us if we will believe and accept His sacrifice for our sins.
I strongly encourage you to memorize this verse! Use it to lead others to Jesus. Rescue the perishing. Care for the dying. Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save. And, once we are SAVED, Jesus promises to live within us, to help us to become more and more like Him, to learn where we have fallen short of His glory, and help us to have the strength to live for Him from now on. The bad news was that we all have sinned. The good news is that Jesus has paid the price and we don’t have to sin any more or fall short of His glory in us! Live it! Teach it! Tell it to anyone who will listen.
Questions to Ponder: Why would anyone resist the free gift of salvation? Do you feel the urge of evangelism? Is reaching the lost a burden that you feel as a born again believer? As a former unbeliever, can you more easily understand why those around you might resist the call of salvation from Jesus? Who is closest to you that needs to hear this truth? Will you tell them and lead them to Jesus soon? What did Jesus mean when He promised He would tell some that He never knew them?
Other Scriptures to study: Hebrews 2:3, “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Romans 6:23, coming up in the next chapter. Matthew 7:21-23. Revelation 3:20, Jesus standing at the door of every man who has ever sinned and fallen short of His glory.
 
|
|
