#90. Romans 3:22-23 – No Sinner Exempted (Justification Series, Part XIII)

Part III: Our Justification, Confirmed

Yet now, apart from law, a righteousness of God is manifest (being attested by the law and the prophets), yet a righteousness of God through Jesus Christ’s faith, for all, and on all who are believing, for there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and are wanting of the glory of God.

No Distinction

Much time I have spent reflecting on the words, “no distinction.” This is the only part of Romans 3:21-23 which has puzzled me, almost as long as I have dwelled on it. The difficulty, I suppose, is that I learned early on from a brother in Christ that “no distinction” is supposed to refer to believers and unbelievers. “There is no distinction between these two parties,” said my brother. I simply accepted this, and thought little of the phrase for a short while.

…That is, until I reached 2 Corinthians 6:14-16. At this point in Paul’s letters, I believed I had understood the basics of Romans, and was prepared to consider 2 Corinthians. I was even confident in some larger portions of Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, so what could possibly reside in 2 Corinthians that would confuse me?

The answer? Observe:

Do not become diversely yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what communion light with darkness? Now what agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what part a believer with an unbeliever? Now what concurrence has a temple of God with idols?

This verse, when I first read it, blew me away. It would be irrational to suppose that Paul is doing anything less than distinguishing, emphatically and with many illustrations, between believers and unbelievers. But how could this be? I thought, per the foundational properties of justification, that there was no distinction between believers and unbelievers?

At first, I believed that Paul was drawing the only “real” distinction that could be drawn, that being belief and unbelief. It would be natural to suppose that belief itself would be the exception that proved the rule; no distinction between these two parties, aside from the title. Yet Paul goes above and beyond in 2 Corinthians, relating unbelief to darkness, lawlessness, and idolatry.

Thus, I thought to myself, there are clearly distinctions between believers and unbelievers! Truly, if the distinctions run so deep as to differentiate between one worshipping Christ, and another worshipping a demon, then there are certainly distinctions which must be maintained between believers and unbelievers, and we must further be able to discern, through the text, who among us is believing and who is not.

This posed the obvious problem: what, then, had I missed in Romans 3:21-23? How are we supposed to understand a lack of distinction?

One plausible answer, one which I have maintained for years, is that “no distinction” may refer to both Jews and Greeks, who are “all” under sin (Rom. 3:9.) This is sensible, for the following clause, “for all have sinned,” gives us a similar claim. It tracks that Paul would continue his underlying argument against Judaizers, even in his presentation of the evangel (an evangel which necessitates obstruction, obfuscation, and disagreement to enforce its premise.)

While this satisfies the structure of the letter, it does not satisfy the context. Thus I had previously made an error by relating the “for all” to the individual’s salvation, “and on all” to the nation’s salvation. There was no grounds for this – merely a veiled connection between Romans 3-8 and 9-11, entirely supposed on my end. One cannot turn plain statements into complicated ones in order to establish an idea. So, it was back to square one.

We may work backwards, then, to learn the truth. It assuredly cannot refer to “believers” and “unbelievers,” since this itself serves great juxtaposition. But it can connect the former part of the epistle, which relayed the divine perspective of human action, with the present part, concerning divine action.

Christ has died for all sinners. There is no “distinguished” part of humanity for which He died, which would preclude others for any reason. Christ did not die for “believers,” or for “saints.” Neither group, in relation to Paul’s message, existed at the time of His death. He died for our sins, yes; yet this is because He died for all.

Our belief, then, does not immediately remove us from the reality of our sin. Whether one “believes” or not does not change the reality of the blood coursing through their veins, the decay of their flesh, and their impending death. We are all unjust, and we are all under sin. Our belief, in part, acknowledges this fact, as the primary prerequisite for Jesus’ salvific act.

A, B, C…

A – “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” – Rom. 3:23

B – “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” – Acts 16:31

C – “Children, obey your parents, in the Lord, for this is good.” – Eph. 6:3

D – “Depart from evil, and do good.” – Ps. 34:14

So began the curriculum for my Baptist church kindergarten Bible class. Their goal was to teach me the alphabet, while sharing some important passages from scripture for foundational understanding of their piety.

On its surface, this is a wonderful idea. And, in fact, if such a concept is possible within the confines of Paul’s evangel, I will happily parse out a new set of verses. And, aside from basic translational errors, the verses themselves are not the issue. My issue is with the order in which these verses are presented. The problem, that “all have sinned,” is presented as “A,” or first. This is fair, yet “B,” or second, is presented as, “Believe, and you shall be saved.” This was indeed the case for the circumcision message, in which human actions are being taken into account, and the salvation is for their terrestrial blessings. But this is not Paul’s directive in Romans, where our belief is regarded as the effect of Christ’s belief, and thus not out of us (cf. Eph. 2:8-9.)

Worse still, the pattern continues as if Paul then entreats us to follow the precepts of the Old Testament! Ephesians and Psalms are mixed together, as if they were making the same argument. From there, the true message of justification is obscured – so well, in fact, that it almost appears coordinated to those who do recognize Paul’s true teaching.

The underlying, logical converse to following the verses in the above order is that one may become “not” a sinner through their (not His) belief on (not of) Jesus! Just like that, a bunch of children are manipulated into thinking a certain way about the text, forced upon them by their environment before they’ve even learned to read a full sentence.

All Have Sinned

The “all” who have sinned includes believers. Our belief does not export us from our flesh. Our belief does not remove us from ourselves. Our belief does not deliver us from short-sightedness, or poor action. Indeed, there is nothing to distinguish us from the majority of humanity, if we are considering any act – including belief – on our end.

Where, then, does the distinction between believer and unbeliever begin? With God’s grace! While sin makes its home in our flesh (Rom. 7:12,) the grace of God does promise much more beyond this flesh, as we will read. In these bodies, there is no intrinsic, moral superiority that any of us have over the other. In fact, many unbelievers would appear to make better decisions, and commit more confident, considerate actions than believers! In my experience, it is often the believer who is in most confusion, frustration, and indecision about their lives, and the unbeliever who is able to “work” at making the world a better place (even if they cannot repudiate the death operating in them, from which Rom. 1:18-2:5 still applies.)

The base truth is that all are in need of justification. Why? For all have sinned. As we have discussed, since all have sinned, none can attain any condition on which a just salvation is made. The Christians, I think, understand this to some degree – hence they divorce “salvation” from “righteousness,” by making erroneous claims as “God is love (salvation,) but He is also just (punishment.)” Since they have supposed human ethics, including repentance and/or belief, perhaps with baptism to boot, as the foundation for salvation, they must diminish its worth to accord with the worth of human action as given in 1:18-3:20. This, in turn, devalues the cross, so that it is not the premise for salvation, but some side effect to enable “your” action.

In other words, they have lavished shit with gold paint.

Since this message speaks of God’s righteousness, and His action, believers must never forget that they are, indeed, sinners, where their action is prioritized. God does not look at something in a believer and go, “That… that quality makes him worth saving.” God is impartial (Rom. 2:11.) Yet, we may say, even if the flesh were being taken into account, the chances are that God would have even less alleged “merit” to save those who believe today – especially Paul himself, whose hands bore the blood of dozens.

May we, then, walk cautiously. The Jewish nation supposed themselves faultless because they “tried hard” to follow the word of God. If they believed, they supposed their actions were automatically righteous. Today, Christendom makes the same mistake. We need not suppose, via justification, that our belief has automatically changed us from “sinning” to “not sinning.” The righteousness with which we are reckoned in “justification” is an accounting, not some immediate, practical reality.

Wanting

Particular to the CLV is the phrase, “[all] are wanting of the glory of God.” Personally, I do not mind the versions which claim that we “fall short” of the glory of God, for such a claim is true. I much prefer “wanting,” however. The word is hustereo, and is translated both as “want” and “deficient.” Either work, given the context, though it is difficult to understand “want” due to how many different ways this one word can be interpreted.

The simplest way to understand is, of course, to conduct a word study on the term. The verb appears 16 times, though its stem, want, is the center of a few other words, such as “subsequent” and “will/willing.” Since it is a verb, in the present tense, it is giving the present condition of mankind, to be in want of the glory of God.

Now, I am sure most will not introduce themselves with this fun fact on their business card. “Nice to meet you! I lack the glory of God!” No, most cannot apprehend that they want the glory of God. They desire glory, perhaps, though they may not admit the “of God” part. Yet success, great creations, spreading goods or wealth, perhaps raising great children, and more, are all qualities which compose the esteem of God. To want these is to desire that very same glory.

You may, on rewatching your favorite movie or two, find a villain who goes, “And then, I will be a living god! Mwahahahaha!” This may work for the movie’s direction, but the trope itself remains compelling – not because the “person who thinks this is bad,” for many good stories have been written in which the main character, though complex, is often typified as godlike (see Paul Atreides in Dune, or Rand al’Thor in The Wheel of Time.) These characters are not inherently evil for seeking to gain esteem, nor should they be treated as such. These characters often explore the dynamic between the burden of sin and the glory with which they are imbibed.

That is to say: we often view Paul’s statement, that “all are wanting,” or “come short of the glory of God,” in a negative light. In one sense, this is merited, for we intuitively recognize that we are lacking something we were created with – being made in the likeness and image of God (Gen. 1:27.) Sin has perverted this quality, leaving us naked and ashamed (Gen. 3:19-20.) You may have even come to terms with this lack, and are at peace with it. Yet it is an abnormal situation, and we should not be so quick to mindlessly accept the lack as our destiny. It is simply the current state of affairs for the human race in this flesh.

Only Christ remains as the One Who can convey the moral excellence of the Father – and thus demonstrate why God’s glory is so valuable, and in such demand. His ability reveals our lack. Hence it is necessary to contrast the two here – all and Christ are not equal. What we lack, Christ provides, unconditionally. This must be done at perfect times, and perfect places, a perfection which could never suppose our action. Most, indeed, will not be saved until well after judgment day has passed, and the new heavens and new earth discussed in Rev. 21 have existed, probably for thousands of years (cf. Eph. 3:21, 1 Cor. 15:22-28.)

Yet God will not keep anyone deficient of His own glory, for this is a dynamic which satisfies His righteous agenda. When one is saved, the glory of God is imposed upon them (Rom. 5:2.) I will save the discussion of the “glory of God” for that verse (Paul uses ‘glory’ 16 times in Romans!) For now, we may see that apart from the righteousness of God, that which we want, from which we are presently deficient, will be lavished upon us.

For some, “glory” is not imperative. To these, a knowledge of God supersedes any bestowal of glory He could give us, which we know full well is undeserved anyway. While I appreciate the sentiment, we should not deny a just God His own grace! The bestowal of glory is an integral part to our growing in the growth of God. Why reject what beautiful treasures He gives? If He sees it fit to give glory to all who have sinned on the basis of Jesus Christ’s faith and death for sinners, then let it be so! He naturally knows what is best for us.

It follows, in context, that this action, too, reveals a layer of God’s righteous salvation – one that will not rest until the all that He has made, and whom Christ died for, has realized their lack, and appreciate His supplication.

Structural Considerations

With that, we have (almost) finished Romans 3:21-23, and now have a rounded understanding of the foundation of our justification. Without every clause in these principle parts, we would not be prepared for the second half of this section, which complements the former. Since all sinned, all must be justified. Since Jesus Christ had faith, all are delivered through that faith. Since the righteousness of God has been revealed, God is just and a Justifier.

Together, these cogs introduce us to God. Since we have learned, in depth, our real A B C’s, we can begin to form words. Praise Yah for His indescribable gratuities!

- GerudoKing