My Notes
What Does Romans 3:23 Mean?
Paul makes the most sweeping moral statement in the New Testament: all have sinned. No exceptions. Not most people, not bad people, not other people. All. The universal scope is the point.
"Come short" translates a Greek word (hustereo) meaning to fall behind, to lack, to miss the mark. The image is of an archer whose arrow falls short of the target. The target is the glory of God — the standard of his character, his holiness, his perfection. Nobody reaches it.
This verse comes in the middle of Paul's argument in Romans 1-3 that every human being — Jew and Gentile alike — stands in need of God's grace. He's systematically demolished every claim to self-righteousness. The religious and the irreligious both fall short.
The purpose isn't to shame. It's to level the field. If everyone has sinned, then nobody has grounds for superiority. And if nobody can reach the glory of God on their own, then everyone needs the same thing: grace. This verse is the setup for Romans 3:24 — "being justified freely by his grace."
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does 'all have sinned' change the way you view people you've been judging or comparing yourself to?
- 2.What does 'come short of the glory of God' mean to you — what standard are you falling short of?
- 3.Is it freeing or discouraging to hear that everyone falls short? Why?
- 4.How does this universal diagnosis make the grace that follows (Romans 3:24) more powerful?
Devotional
All have sinned. Three words that end every comparison and every claim to moral superiority.
We spend a lot of energy measuring ourselves against other people. Better than that person. Not as bad as that one. At least I don't do what they do. Paul says: stop. All have sinned. The measurement isn't against each other. It's against the glory of God. And by that standard, every one of us falls short.
That's not meant to crush you. It's meant to free you. Because if everyone falls short, then the playing field is completely level. The person you think has it together? Falls short. The person you've been judging? Same boat as you. The person you wish you could be? Also falling short.
And that means grace — when it comes — comes for everyone equally. Not for the almost-good-enough. For the all-have-sinned. For you.
What would change if you stopped trying to be good enough and simply accepted that you're not — and that was never the point?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Where is boasting then?.... There is no room nor reason for it, either in Jews or Gentiles: not in the Jews, who were…
For all have sinned - This was the point which he had fully established in the discussion in these chapters. Have come…
For all have sinned : - And consequently are equally helpless and guilty; and, as God is no respecter of persons, all…
From all this Paul infers that it is in vain to look for justification by the works of the law, and that it is to be had…
all have sinned Lit. all sinned: the Gr. aorist. Probably the time-reference of the tense is to the original Fall of…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture