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August 2, 2015 |
| All Have Sinned | ||
There are many verses that Christians commonly quote. We know that it is dangerous to quote a verse out of its context. How often have we seen "Judge not, lest you be judged" taken out of context and then misused.
Aside from the danger of misusing a verse because it has not been understood in its context, there is the potential for losing the depth of its meaning by removing it from its context.
Very often these context sensitive verses start with a word like "because" or "for" that makes it clear that this verse is making a small point as part of a larger discussion the author is engaged in. This should make us wonder what is the larger point.
One of these verses is John 3:16 which we studied in context in an earlier lesson and found many insights. It begins "For God so loved the world …" and the word "For" is telling us we should look at the previous verses to see the larger point.
In this lesson we will look at Romans 3:23 which, according to one site, is the 5th most commonly quoted verse. It begins "For all have sinned …". We will look at the immediate context of that verse to find the larger point that the author, Paul in this case, is making.
19But we know that whatever things the written law has said, it has said to those who are into the written law, that every mouth may be shut and the whole universe may be guilty before God,
Paul's point here is that everything the written law has said to those who read it leaves them with no defense and shows them to be guilty and, for that matter, shows the whole world to be guilty. When Paul talks about the written law he is referring to the Old Testament, most likely the first 5 books, called The Law or the Torah. Therefore he is saying that these books tell us what God's standard is for our lives. Anyone who sees that standard will see that everyone stands guilty before God.
Paul is also saying that these books, having been delivered from God, are the word of God and therefore have such authority that no one can offer a defense to the declaration of their guilt.
20Because by works of the written law no one is justified before him, for by the written law sin has been made known.
Paul says that the law cannot achieve justification of you. Said another way, you cannot be freed from the consequences of your sins by obeying the law. This is a true statement of any law including the laws for driving cars. The law cannot pronounce you free of the consequences of the laws you have broken. It is the law that shows you what is wrong and pronounces you guilty and that's all it can do. In fact our own laws can help us to understand God's laws except in one thing. With God's laws God knows everything that is done; with our laws there are fallible police who need to catch you.
After you have broken the law comes a judgment where a judge specifies what atonement will be acceptable for you to redeem yourself or for someone else to redeem you. Laws are nothing without a justice system to determine how law breaking (sin) will be dealt with. This usually includes a price to pay (atonement) to free you (redeem you) from the justice system and to make you right with the law (be justified / righteous). We'll come back to this.
21But now the justice of God has been revealed without the written law and the written law and the prophets testify of it.
The Old Testament specified a justice system that included atonements for wrong doing. Paul's point here is that God had revealed a new justice system that was not part of the Old Testament, though the Old Testament law and the prophets talked about a time when a new justice system would be revealed. God had always planned for this justice system but it had to wait until the right time.
22But the righteousness of God is by the faith of Jesus the Messiah unto every person, also upon every person who believes in him, for there is no distinction, 23because all of them have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God, 24and are made right by grace without charge and by the redemption that exists in Jesus the Messiah,
Paul says that this new justice system comes by the righteousness of God and is made available by the faith of Jesus. It is not made available by our own faith. It is made available (offered) to everyone and comes to those who believe in Jesus.
Paul now says there is no distinction among people. But there had been a distinction. Remember that the Old Testament justice system was only available to Jews. If you were a Gentile during Old Testament times you could only take advantage of that justice system by becoming a Jew. In his righteousness, God's new justice system is available to everyone.
This Jew versus Gentile theme crosses all of this letter to the Romans and appears here as an undertone. We know from history that the church of Rome, to whom this letter was written, would have a lot of trouble with the Jew / Gentile distinction. As Paul writes this letter to the church in Rome it is losing its Jewish roots. New converts to the church are coming from the Gentile Romans who despised Jews.
Now our key verse comes in, "because all of them have sinned" but we now see it in a bigger context. The message of verses 22 - 23 is that God provided a new justice system through Jesus for all people, not just Jews, because all people have sinned.
The verse continues by saying that the result of their sin is that they "are deprived of the glory of God". This needs some understanding. First we need to understand what deprived means. One definition says "not having the things that are needed for a good or healthy life". Then we need to understand that it is God's desire that we should do good works that glorify his name and that he would glorify us for those good works. We should want nothing so much as that God would glorify us. This is the treasure we are building up in Heaven. The result of sin, however, is that we are deprived of the glory of God.
The verses continue by saying that those who believe in Jesus are made right (righteous) by two things:
25This one whom God preordained as the atonement, by the faith of his blood, for the sake of our sins which we had formerly sinned, 26in the space that God in his patience has given to us, for the demonstration of his justice which is in this time, that he would be the just one and would by justice declare righteous the one who is in the faith of Our Lord Jesus the Messiah.
Paraphrasing, it was preordained by God that Jesus' sacrifice of himself would pay the price of the sins that we had committed. But we committed sins before we knew God, sins that meant death for us, but God in his patience gave us time to live that we might repent and believe. God did all this to demonstrate that he is just. Therefore those people who believe in Jesus and are thus in his faith, God declares them to be righteous
27Where is pride, therefore? It has been eliminated with him. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28We determine therefore that by faith a man is made righteous and not by the works of the written law.
Paul goes back to his Jew / Gentile theme now and specifically addresses the pride of the Jews. The Jews thought themselves special because God had chosen them as his people and had entrusted the law and prophets to them. Paul says the reason for this pride was eliminated by Jesus sacrifice. Now there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The new justice system is offered to everyone and comes by faith not from the law.
29Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. 30Because God is one, who declares the circumcision righteous by faith and also the uncircumcision by faith.
Paul says God is the God of everyone and he declares both Jew and Gentile righteous by faith. This is important to understand. Righteousness always came by faith (Hebrews 11) but in Old Testament times the justice system was only available to Jews and required sacrifices. The new justice system is available to everyone, and the one-time sacrifice of Jesus has been made.
31Are we eliminating the written law by faith? God forbid, but we are establishing the written law.
Paul said earlier (v. 21) that the written law and the prophets spoke about this change in the justice system. So his point here is that the validity of the Old Testament law is reaffirmed by the revelation of this new justice system. Also, the law given in the Old Testament is still the law, only the justice system has changed. These verses don't talk about it but we know that the law is given to us now in a better way, by the Holy Spirit, who helps us understand and apply it.
We've now thoroughly picked through the verses that make up the immediate context of Romans 3:23 and can summarize it as follows. The purpose of the law was to show those who would read it that everyone is guilty of breaking the law. It was never possible for the law to justify those who broke the law; this required a justice system. Now a new justice system has been revealed that was spoken about by the law and the prophets. This system is available to all people because all people have sinned with the result that they are deprived of the glory of God. God has done all this, including giving us time to repent, that he would be shown to be just, and be able to declare as righteous those people who believed in Jesus and accepted him as the atoning sacrifice. There is now nothing for Jews to be prideful about. Justification is available to all by faith but the law remains the law.
What can we say then about Romans 3:23 now that we have studied it in context. Christians tend to use Romans 3:23 as a proof text, to show others that everyone is a sinner, For example, "See, the Bible says that everyone has sinned". This is a true statement of course but Paul says it as though it was blindingly obvious. In essence he says, "Because everyone has sinned, God made a justice system for everyone".
 What does Paul say about the Old Testament law
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It showed everyone to be law breakers It described the old justice system (atonement, redemption, justification) Both |
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The old justice system was:
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Available to Jews only Available to Jews and also to Gentiles that converted to Jews Available to everyone |
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Under the old justice system sacrifices were required for sin. Why don't we have to make sacrifices
under the new justice system
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We do have to make sacrifices for sin Jesus was the one-time sacrifice for our sins The new justice system isn't based on sacrifices |