Book
Chapter
Verse
Bible Translation
for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Here is the commentary:
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
The Universal Verdict: "All Have Sinned"
Romans 3:23 stands at a pivotal turning point in Paul's argument. The preceding chapters have methodically proven the guilt of every class of humanity — the degraded Gentile, the morally upright philosopher, and the law-possessing Jew. Now the apostle gathers every thread into one devastating conclusion: there is no difference. All are equally under sin's condemnation.
William Kelly draws out the force of the word "all" in connection with the righteousness of God that is "unto all":
William Kelly"For there is no difference; for all sinned, and do come short of the glory of God." When man was innocent, he simply enjoyed the creature gifts around in thankfulness to Him who had set him in the midst of all and over all which God had pronounced "very good." But when he sinned, God appeared and could have no test to try him by short of His glory, which drives out sinful man from before His face. Hence the necessity for divine grace if he is to be justified.
Kelly's point is searching: the standard by which man is measured is not human morality, not even the law of Moses, but the glory of God Himself. There is no lower measure once God has been fully revealed.
F. B. Hole states the matter with characteristic directness:
F. B. HoleThis glorious justification, this complete clearance, is the portion of all who believe in Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile. All have sinned, so that there is no difference as to guilt. In the same way there is no difference in the way of justification. Faith in Christ, and that alone, puts a man right with God.
Hole sees the "no difference" working in two directions — no difference as to guilt, and no difference as to the remedy. The universality of the disease matches the universality of the cure offered.
"Come Short of the Glory of God"
What does it mean to "come short of the glory of God"? This phrase is far more radical than it first appears. It is not merely that man has failed to keep certain commandments — he has fallen entirely below the standard of God's own glory.
J. N. Darby offers a remarkable footnote on this phrase in his Synopsis:
J. N. DarbyRemark here how, God being revealed, sin is measured by the glory of God. We are so used to read this that we overlook its force. How strange to say, "and come short of the glory of God!" Man might say, Why, of course we have; but, morally speaking, this has been revealed, and if one cannot stand before it, according to it, we cannot subsist before God at all. Of course it is not of His essential glory — all creatures are short of that, of course — but of that which was fitting for, according to, could stand in, His presence. If we cannot stand there, fitly "walk in the light as God is in the light," we cannot be with God at all. There is no veil now.
Darby draws out a distinction often missed: it is not God's essential glory (His intrinsic deity, which no creature could share) but His moral glory — that which is fitting for His presence. If a creature cannot stand in the light as God is in the light, that creature cannot be with God at all. And there is "no veil now" — the full blaze of divine glory is the only standard.
L. M. Grant emphasizes that the very depth and character of God drives the necessity of a wholly different righteousness:
L. M. GrantThis was an absolute necessity if any man was to receive blessing, for all were in the same case before God — "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Despite the reality and depth of God's grace, and His longing desire to forgive — forgiveness is impossible apart from righteousness. God must do right: it is His essential character. He cannot ignore sin. His justice demands satisfaction concerning sin, and cannot be treated with impunity.
Grant shows that the universality of sin makes grace an absolute necessity, not merely a generous addition. God's own character requires righteousness, and man has none.
The Levelling Effect: No Room for Boasting
Charles Stanley makes the "no difference" principle unmistakable:
Charles Stanley"Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, to all, and upon all, them that believe; for there is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." How distinctly faith of Jesus Christ now takes the place of law, and this to all, both Jews and Gentiles! The righteousness of God, then, is what He is in Himself, and what He is to us. It is apart from law; for there was, and could be, no law or command to God. All is absolutely of God.
Stanley's point cuts deep: "the righteousness of God is what He is in Himself, and what He is to us." Justification is not what man offers God, but what God is toward man.
The Connection to Verse 24: Freely Justified
W. E. Vine, in his Bible Readings on Romans, draws verses 23 and 24 together as an inseparable unit:
W. E. Vine"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely" (gratuitously, without a cause) "by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
He adds a striking parallel:
Bible_Readings_Romans_1911It is said of the Lord, that they hated Him "without a cause." God justifies the believer "without a cause." What wonderful grace!
The same Greek word (dorean) that describes the causeless hatred of Christ describes the causeless justification of the sinner. There is nothing in us that procured it.
C. Crain confirms this connection between universal guilt and the divine remedy:
C. CrainNow this is the glorious revelation which the gospel of God declares. In it the righteousness of God is revealed. It proclaims God's righteous title to deliver from judgment those who deserve to be judged forever. It is saying to sinners (and all have sinned), God is the One who justifies. He is the justifier. He justifies freely. He justifies on the principle of faith. Here is a righteousness which is for all; and all who believe are securely sheltered by it.
The Standard is Glory, Not Law
W. H. Westcott captures the progression succinctly:
W. H. WestcottThe very fact that there is no difference in God's sight as to the sinful state of men, opens the way for Him to bless, and to reckon righteous, all who believe. But how? Verse 24 is the answer. Without any procuring cause on our side, God has justified the believer by His grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
R. A. Anderson completes the picture by showing where this truth ultimately leads — not merely to forgiveness, but to joy:
R. A. AndersonSins have been so answered for in the death of Jesus that God is righteous in justifying the believer. Our guilt has been satisfactorily dealt with. We are brought from the distance and condition of enmity into the nearness and complacency of reconciliation. Hence — though having been made fully aware that we had sinned and come short of the glory of God — we joy in God in addition to rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.
Anderson points forward: the very glory of God from which we fell short becomes the object of our hope. What condemned us now draws us — because Christ has brought us there.
Synthesis
Romans 3:23 is the great leveller. It demolishes every claim to self-righteousness — Jewish privilege, Gentile philosophy, religious effort — by measuring all humanity against a single, unsparing standard: the glory of God. Not merely God's law, but His glory. The verb "come short" (Greek hysterountai, present tense) indicates a continuing state: all sinned (a past fact) and all are presently falling short of that glory. This is not a verdict that can be appealed; it is the fixed condition of every child of Adam.
But this universal condemnation is not the end of the sentence. The very next words ("being justified freely by His grace") show that the universality of sin opens the way for the universality of grace. Because no one has a claim, God can freely give to all who believe. Because the standard was glory and not law, the remedy is not reformation but redemption — a wholly new righteousness, not man's but God's, through faith in Christ Jesus.