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Romans 3:23 meaning

All humans have sinned and fall below God’s standard.

The sentence continues, making the point that righteousness (Greek dikaiosune) is not something we as humans can achieve. The competing Jewish “authorities” who are arguing against Paul saying that keeping the law is necessary to achieve righteousness, do not keep the law themselves, as Paul pointed out in chapter 2. These competing “authorities” have slandered Paul’s message of good news (verse 8) and are slandering God’s name in word and in deed (Romans 2:24).

However, after Paul pointed all this out, he made it quite clear that he is no better (verse 9). In fact, Paul calls himself the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). So “all” here includes Paul. “All” includes Jews as well as Gentiles. “All” have sinned.

The goal is righteousness; a life that lines up with all that is true and right so that all is as it should be. The obstacle is sin. Without dealing with sin, we cannot achieve righteousness. Because of sin, we will not be in harmony with who God created us to be. We cannot be fulfilled because of sin, we will not be able to have social harmony with family, friends, and our community. Sin is that which takes us away from what is true and right, the way everything was created by God to work in perfect harmony.

The competing Jewish “authorities” have a solution: “keep the law.” Paul has a different solution that is “apart from the law” (verse 21). The solution is God’s grace. The receipt of God’s grace comes through faith and faith alone.

Biblical Text

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

The Apostle Paul writes to the world-renowned believers in Rome, the center of the world at that time, in order to answer a slanderous charge made to them against Paul and his message. Paul’s detractors claim his emphasis on faith overturns the law. Paul says that ” just living by the law” does not achieve personal justice before God, while “just living by faith” does. Paul then demonstrates what a just life looks like: harmonious living with Jesus as the leader. Paul also makes clear the choice a believer has: to walk in faith and the power of the resurrection and experience resurrection life, or walk in sin and unnecessarily experience the negative consequences.

Chapter Context

Paul specifies the slander charge raised against him by competing Jewish “authorities” who claim Paul is teaching that believers ought to sin. These “authorities” claim that Paul teaches we ought to do evil because then we are doing good: “Do evil that good may come.”

These authorities claim Paul teaches that we do God a favor by showing how full of grace God is.

Paul dismisses their charge as a statement that is worthy of condemnation, but goes on to emphasize that he is no better than they are because no person other than Jesus can be good enough to satisfy the requirements of God’s law.

The reality is that we are all sinners, and each of us needs the grace of God. In this chapter, Paul sets up a defense of his position that righteous living comes through living by faith.

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