How To Be Right With God – Righteousness Is Provided For All Who Believe

Romans 3:22-23

“…22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(Verse 22b) - The provision of salvation and the righteousness it brings is granted for all those who believe. Anyone will be saved who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, for there is no distinction.

Note that there are two uses of the word “all” here.  The Greek word is a simple one with an evident meaning: it translates as “all” 748 times, “all things” 170 times, “every” 117 times, “all men” 41 times, “whosoever” 31 times, “everyone” 28 times, “whole” 12 times, “all manner of” 11 times, “every man” 11 times; and then a bunch of minor uses as well.  The second part of the translation (when there is one) is implied (things, times, men, etc.) and is taken from the context.  It is a generic word that is, at its core, inclusive in a general way.  We must be careful of two things with this word.  We must be careful that we don’t make it either too inclusive or too exclusive by reading our theology into the passage in question.  We can make the word too general, and make it seem like it is more general than the context makes it.  The group that this word refers to in any Scriptural context is only general in so far as that group can be general.  It is not meant to be more general than the normal interpretation of the phrase it is included in should be intended to be.  For instance, the Gospels tell us that “all the world went out to hear Jesus preach”.  Obviously, all the world does not include every single human being on the face of the planet.  John 3:26 is another instance where “all” in not intended to mean “all without exception” - John’s disciples tell John that “all men” are going to hear Jesus – when obviously not every single person on the face of the planet was going.  On the other hand, there are times when “all” is used, and it is clear that every single person in the group in question in intended to be included.  Luke 3:15, 21, and John 2:24 are examples of such occasions.  The point is that it is the context, not the word that determines the scope of the meaning in a particular verse.  While it is not my intention to give a full-orbed discussion of this small issue, I do want to note that we must take care to allow the context of the particular verse to determine the meaning of the word in question, and not force either a more general or a more specific meaning upon because of our preconceived notions.

That all being said, it is evident that these two expressions (“…to all and on all…”) are designed to be emphatic, but why both are used is not very apparent. Many have supposed that there was no essential difference in the meaning, that it is merely an example of the Jewish habit of repetition or parallelism. While this may be true, it is just as possible, if not more so that Paul intended there to be some shade of difference in meaning.  If there be a difference, it is probably this: the first expression, “unto all” may denote that this plan of justification has come unto all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike; that is, that it has been provided for them, and offered to them without distinction regarding their nationality. The plan was ample for all men, Jew and Gentile; was suited for all men, Jew and Gentile; was equally necessary for all men, Jew and Gentile; and was offered to all men, Jew and Gentile.

The second phrase, “upon all” may be designed to guard against the supposition that all therefore would be benefited by it, or be saved by the mere fact that the announcement had come to all. The apostle adds therefore, that the benefits of this plan must actually come upon all, or must be applied to all, if they would be justified. They could not be justified merely by the fact that the plan was provided, and that the knowledge of it had come to all, but by their actually coming under this plan, and availing themselves of it. Some commentators thought there is reference in the last expression, “upon all,” to a robe, or garment, that is placed upon one to hide his nakedness, or sin; (compare Isa. 64:6, also Phil 3:9). The point here is that though an argument can be made for availability of the plan to all men here, Paul closes the door by saying that the provision of salvation is actually applied only to those to who believe.  Of this we will speak at length presently.

Preaching in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, Paul declared, “Through Him [Christ] everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). In his letter to the church at Galatia, the apostle said, “A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 2:16).  Jesus Himself said, “The one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). All those who believe in Jesus Christ - whether a murderer, prostitute, thief, rapist, homosexual, religious hypocrite, false teacher, pagan, or anything else - will be saved. Just as no one is good enough to be saved, no one is so evil that he cannot be saved. This is the intent of this passage.  It is not intended to prove some universalistic kind of understanding of either the applicability of the work of Christ, or of the intent of that sacrifice.  It is simply meant to address the categories of people from which the redeemed are taken.  They are from all categories of people, there is no distinction.

That is the wonderful point of Romans 3:22. All those who believe will be saved, because in God’s sight there is no distinction. All men are equally sinful and are equaled worthy of wrath.  It is true that some men do things that are worse than other men.  However, the offense of merely being sinners is so huge in the sight of God that the things that men do are, dare we say it, nearly inconsequential in comparison.  That is, there is no difference in regard to the matter under discussion. The apostle does not mean to say that there is no difference in regard to the talents, dispositions, education, and property of people; but that there is no distinction in regard to the way in which they must be justified, no matter what group they emerge from. All must be saved, if saved at all, in the same mode, whether Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, rich or poor, learned or ignorant. None can be saved by works of Law; and all are therefore dependent on the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.  Just as everyone apart from Christ is equally sinful and rejected by God, everyone who is in Christ is equally righteous and accepted by Him. Even the “foremost of all” sinners, as Paul called himself (1 Tim. 1:15), was not too wicked to be saved.

(Verse 23) - There is no distinction among those who are saved, because there is no distinction among those who are lost, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. “Fall short” has the basic meaning of being last or inferior. It means “are deficient in regard to;” are lacking, etc. Here it means, that they had failed to obtain, or were destitute of the standard set by the glory of God, His character.  Every human being comes in last as far as the glory of God is concerned.

The glory of God - The praise or approval of God. They had sought to be justified, or approved, by God; but all had failed. Their attempts at works of the Law had not secured his approval; and they were therefore under condemnation. The word “glory” has been discussed before and is often used in the sense of praise, or approval, (John 5:41, 44; 7:18; 8:50, 54; 12:43). The idea here is that they had sought to satisfy the standard of God reflected in His glory and had fallen completely short of the accomplishment of that standard. 

It is important to understand the impact of this verse.  Note that the word “all” is used once again.  In this context all applies to the two groups that the context is speaking to – Jew and Gentile.  That, from the Jewish point of view, was the sum total of all men.  Therefore we can conclude that verse does indeed speak to universal depravity and not to a more limited group. 

“Sinned” is a Greek word that speaks to the missing of a mark.  The sport of archery is a good example of the idea that is here.  The target in archery has a small dot in the center that it is the goal of the archer to hit with the fired arrow.  Except that the dot is pierced, the archer has missed his mark.  That is the concept present in this word.  It means “To wander or stray from a prescribed path of righteousness or honor”.  The tense of the verb is past and is non-specific as to exactly when this “wandering” began or took place.  The implication is that the effects of this missing of the mark persist until the present time.  What is clear is that it is an active wandering and that it is still ongoing.

Of course, the “target” here is the glory of God as stated in the verse.  It is that mark that the people (all men without exception) have missed.  God is the sovereign ruler of the universe, of all creation.  He has the right to establish the standards to which His creation must live.  That is entirely proper, just and fair.  Men have, without exception, fallen short of that mark and failed in their responsibility to God to measure up to His standard of righteousness.  We ought to not that the “come short of the glory of God” not a result or the missing of the mark, but rather is a definition of the mark itself. 

The very language here is interesting.  Normally, in such terminology we would expect the concept of missing the mark to be described in terms of going wide or high.  The arrow that misses its target goes left or right, above or below, or some combination of those directions.  That is not quite what is said here.  The attempt of the ones in view “falls short”, that is it was insufficient so as to reach the mark.  It is as of the arrow had not the strength of shot to even make it to the target!  How eloquently that describes the condition of men.  They strive and they work and they work and they strive; but for all of that they never even get to the target, let alone get near the bulls eye!

How different this is than the way that men describe their own spiritual strivings.  They see themselves working hard and, if missing at all, missing only slightly, and then only because of something not truly their fault.  They are damaged or are hindered, but certainly are not deficient!  They get close – they are almost there!  They are loathe to admit that they are not even on the target at all!

This is a key idea to communicate to people.  We need to speak with men about their sinfulness!