What does "all" mean in the context of Romans 3:23 ?

Romans 3:23

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 3:23

Romans 3: 23

What does "all" mean in the context of Romans 3:23 ?

Romans 3:23

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

the "lead" for the answer can be found in the verse which precedes this, in verse 22 - where Paul also uses the word "all". But is also important to pay special attention to the last clause of verse 22.

Rom 3:22

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

The "all" is the same group of people in verse 23 as it is in verse 22.

The last clause - of verse 22 leads us to the answer of who the "all" is. That last clause of verse 22 leads us to ask:

When in verse 22, it says for there is no difference, what two groups is it talking about ?

The Book of Romans is Paul’s exposition of the failure of the Jewish Law, failure of the conscience of man, and redemption by the Justification of Jesus Christ.

In the book of Romans, Paul slips in and out of the topic of the Jewish Law, and often applies the same points about the Jewish law...to the "law" or the "inherent nature" of mankind.

Paul wrote from his Jewish background. In New Testament times (and also today in some cases) the Jews thought that by keeping their laws successfully, that this would be the way to please God. The Jewish law is also called the Levitical Law and a good portion of it can be found in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy.

Many of these laws are very rigorous and very strict. The Jews thought that the law (their ceremonial law) would save them in the sense that their keeping of the law would reconcile them back to God. God’s answer to that ...was that what God wanted most was NOT their keeping of the law, but rather their "heart", their attitude of desiring to earnestly obey Him.

God saw that this attitude was ABSENT very often in the times of the Old Testament. That is why God is constantly writing "Return to me" or "Return to my ways". You can also find confirmation of this in the Old Testament books of  I & II Kings where God constantly is saying that "King XYZ" forsook the ways of their ancestors.

God was not talking about the laws, but rather about the heart of the people. In the time of the Prophets, God sent the prophets to Plead with the people. God only turned to Judgment AFTER God had taken much time to Plead with the people, begging them to turn voluntarily to Him.

What God wanted the Jews to understand was that 1) Their laws would not make them good enough to MERIT salvation and 2) they could never successfully Keep the law.

The reason is this: Man is fallen and has a nature which - in its natural ways - seeks to DEPART from God. God knew that the Jews (or anyone else) who would try to keep the Jewish laws would not be able to be perfect enough to do this. The only solution was for them to stop trying and INSTEAD put their full faith and trust in the promise of the Messiah who would Save them, by saving them a) from their sins and b) the eternal consequence of their sins.

Paul writes about the Fallen Nature of man, in the earlier verses of Romans 3, where he says:

Paul presents this in terms of a dilemma to his readers: If THIS is the kind of people that exist then how can they be saved ?

Just Go back in Romans 3 and circle or underline the word "ALL" and you will have the answer to who Paul is referring to.

The passage in Romans 3 is just a re-quote of Psalm 14. Paul is only characterizing mankind in the same way that God - through David in the book of Psalms had also previously characterized mankind.

In Romans 3:19 , Paul confirms that the purpose of the Jewish law is to demonstrate the incapacity of those who would try - to keep it.

Paul writes:

19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Paul starts off in Verse 19 by talking about the Jews, those "to them who are under the law", but then changes recipient of his indictment:

The next clause of verse 19, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Those words make it very clear that Paul understands that Paul is talking about ALL of mankind, where Paul says "EVERY" mouth, and "ALL the world".

And what about the WHOLE world ? What about this group of "ALL" ? What does Paul say about them ?

The last portion of verse 19 answers the question:

[that] all the world may become guilty before God.

Verse 20 speaks to those who are "Under the law" meaning the Jews in this case, and then Verse 21 speaks to those who are WITHOUT the law, meaning the gentiles:

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

[what we can notice here is not that the Jewish Law manifests the righteousness of God, in our lives. In Fact, Paul negates that possibility by explicitly saying:

Notice the difference between the word "manifested" and the word "witnessed". The law and the prophets did not Manifest the Righteousness of God, but they did Witness it.

In other words, the writings of the Old Testament cannot produce Righteousness through the Jewish Law, but the Old Testament writings nevertheless DO testify and "Witness" the Righteousness of Christ, by testifying about the Return of the Messiah - who is Jesus Christ.

That produces a problem:

1. God gives the people the Jewish Law

2. The Jewish people FAIL to keep the Law

3. God asserts that the purpose of the Law was not for them to be able to succeed, but rather for them to fail.

4. The Jewish Law then could not produce Righteousness in the hearts of men.

5. Then IF - or rather SINCE this is the case that the Jewish Laws (or any other) Cannot produce the Righteousness of God in the hearts of Men,

6. Then HOW can the Righteousness of God be produced in the Hearts of Men ?

The answer is in Romans 3:22

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Having explained the problem, Paul - through the Holy Spirit and what Paul wrote in the book of Romans provides the answer:

We have to stop and think and make a distinction here - between A) those that Salvation is offered to and B) those who believe.

Now the righteousness of Jesus Christ is offered unto All, but it is not Received by All. It is only received by "all them that believe".

In other words, the group of persons to whom Jesus offers salvation is "unto all".

But the group of people that have the Righteousness of God (those that are truly saved and born again) - is a smaller group, and they are the ones who are "them that believe".

So here is more clarification on Romans 3:23

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all [of mankind] and [granted] upon all them that believe: for there is no difference [between the eternal condemnation of those who are under the Jewish/Mosaic law, and the eternal condemnation of those who are NOT under Jewish/mosaic law]:

That leads to a short dilema and a solution:

IF Verse 23 says that the whole world - ALL - has sinned and falls short of the Glory [perfection/perfect standard] of God, and all of the world is Freely Justified by his grace, then WHY is the entire world NOT saved ?

- Because ONLY those who accept his grace "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" are those who are "justified freely"

Paul ends with these verses:

28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the [the group of the] circumcision by faith [which would be Jews], and [the group of the] uncircumcision [which would be Gentiles] through faith.

31 Do we then make void the law [and the purpose of the Old Testament Mosaic Law] through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. [in other words, we establish that God brought the law for His reasons, and God’s sovereignty and foresight establishes the legitimacy of the Jewish law, since the Jewish law would point to Christ as the Propitiation (Expiatory sacrifice in place of us) for our sins]

Finally, this returns us to your original question: who does the "ALL" refer to in Romans 3:23 ?

It Does refer to "all who have chosen to disobey God"...But it does not matter whether they have chosen consciously to willfully disobey God or Not.

The "ALL" in Romans 3:23 is simply all who are sinners. And each person or individual (Except Jesus Christ) is not Only a sinner because they do wrong [Romans 3:10 "there is NONE righteous, no not one"], but also those who are sinners because they are simply born as Sinners.

This is what Paul Says in I Corinthians 15:21-22

21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead [through Eternal life in Christ].

22 For as in Adam all [humans] die, even so in Christ shall all [who trust in Christ] be made alive.

The Bible teaches two kinds of Condemnation (That true faith in Jesus Christ saves us From):

1. Personal condemnation (Action): the sins that you have personally done

2. Positional Condemnation (Sin Nature) - condemned because you were born a sinner a result of the Fall of Mankind, as a result of the fall of Adam & Eve.

This is why the the New Testament often contrasts Adam with Christ, because Adam is the one who caused the Human Race to fall, but Christ is the one who redeemed the Human Race.

The "ALL" in Romans 3:23 refers then to

1. Those who are under the Jewish law [jews] and were/are eternally condemned

2. Those NOT under the Jewish law [gentiles] who Still were/are eternally condemned

3. Those who are personally condemned by the sins which they have personally committed

4. Those who are personally condemned by their Sin Nature, which they have as a result of being human.

Conclusion: All humans - According to Romans 3:23 have sinned and fallen short of the Perfect Standard, the glory of God. But Jesus by His death and resurrection gave us the choice to repent of our sins, ask His forgiveness of our sins, and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour

Note: Just for the record, we are Not saying that we are better than anyone else, and we are Not better than anyone else. People do Not become Christians because they are "better". The concept of someone who is "better" - as opposed to someone who is less "better" is a distinction that does not exist. 

From God's point of view, none of us are "better" or good, or good enough to merit (to deserve) to be allowed into God's "100% Holy Presence". Without Jesus Christ, None of us are simply that Holy. Christians are those who have reconciled themselves to God because of what they allowed GOD to do, not because of what they have done. 

People who think that Christians think [about themselves ] - that they are "better" than everyone else...are simply believing anti-Christian propaganda. 

What 99.9% of Christians will tell you - if you ask them - is 

1. THEY - Those Christians -  are Sinners and 

2. They KNOW it and 

3. They are in Need of God. Also, they will share with you that they are STILL in need of God. 

Christianity is about achieving FORGIVENESS, Not Perfection. 

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(XOFC Staff)

Life has many choices…
Eternity has only TWO.
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