"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."—Rom. 3:23, 24.
IN these two verses we get man's fallen state and God's remedy; the whole gospel in a few words. Ruin and redemption. No words could be plainer.
All have sinned.
Here we are at once brought face to face with a rule without an exception. None is exempt. All means all. Whoever you are, my reader, and whatever your course of life, this plain sweeping statement of the Word of God takes you in. You may try to shirk the fact, but fact it is. You may think lightly of sin, but sin is sin. You may have sinned but little in comparison with some. But ONE SIN, the smallest sin you have ever committed, in deed, word, or thought, would suffice, unpardoned, to shut you out from God. The way to blessing is to take your place as a sinner before Him, owning your guilt. For all have sinned, and therefore You.
And come short of the glory of God.
Take heed, too, to these searching words. Maybe you own you have sinned in the past. But, having discovered what the consequence would be, you have turned over a new leaf, as people say, and become a little religious. And now, bolstered up with your own reformation, the devil's salve for a guilty conscience, you seek to persuade yourself that all is well, and cry, Peace, peace. But there is NO PEACE (Jer. 8:11). For what avails this before God? God, who knows every secret of your heart, sinner, reads you through and through. Has your reformation fitted you for His glory? Have your fleshly efforts to be good come up to that standard? Does your heart so deceive you that you venture to say, Yes? Terrible delusion
Dear reader, I must be plain with you; I seek your eternal good. If this is your ground, you have enlisted in the ranks of the full-blown Pharisees. You are ranged on the shelf for cups and platters, clean on the outside only; or, like unto a whited sepulcher, beautiful indeed outward, but within...—ah! I say no more; read the scripture for yourself. Jesus said it, the Son of God (Matt. 23). Look and see.
It is no good, sinner, you must face the truth. You come short. Note the words well. Not came short, as though in the past. But all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Come short this day. All. Not some. Nor all but you. All means all, every one. God means what He says.
Bow then to Him. Own the truth of His Word.
All have come short, as well as all have sinned. It is impossible to escape its plain meaning. Does it convict you? Do you own your utter unfitness for God's glory? and your deceived heart-reformation scheme a gigantic mistake? a delusion of the devil? Then away with your self-righteous crutches for ever. Are they gone? Yes. Praise God. Listen now to His remedy; God's own plan to save a sinner lost. What is it? The next verse tells.
Being justified.
Think of that. God's remedy right alongside of man's ruin. Not shall be justified, but being. It is a present blessing. Being cleared. Not simply pardoned, forgiven; but perfectly and forever acquitted, and that now. Not at some future time, nor depending upon our future conduct. There is no if in the case. I think I hear some reader saying, "But..." Ah, and there is no "but" either. “But..." No, no; it is without any ifs or buts whatever. It is the sinner brought to the bar of God, and sent out of court, so to speak, without a stain upon his character; just as though he had never sinned at all. Guilty, and yet treated as guiltless. How can this be? Read to the close, and you will see. But what comes next?
Freely.
Precious word for the sin-burdened conscience. Freely. Being justified freely. Freely, freely, FREELY! These are God's own gospel terms. Nothing to do. Nothing to pay. Without money, and without price (Isa. 4:1). FREELY! Any other terms would render our case hopeless. Why? Simple answer. Because we have nothing to pay with. But how the heart rebels against this. Why? Because it makes nothing of you and me, and none of us like that. You don't like it now, my reader, do you? Be honest. Don't we love to do something for ourselves, if it be only a very little bit? But God will have none of it. No, not a single thread will He let you add to His best robe. And freely are His terms. Terms worthy of Himself. And on these terms alone can you be justified.
By His grace.
Not by our works. By God's act of free favor only, apart from works. If it were of works, then is it no more grace, and we could boast. But it is not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:9). By His grace is it, the abounding grace of God. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom. 5:20) Grace reigns through righteousness (Rom. 5:21) You, a sinner, come short of the glory; but the grace of God comes in, and fits you for it then and there. Have you apprehended this, that we are justified entirely by the grace of God, apart from our own wretched doings altogether. It is by the pure, unmingled, free grace of the God of all grace.
Through the redemption.
Note this especially. The work of Christ. This is the only channel through which grace can flow to a sinner, "redemption." What redemption? The redemption wrought at Calvary by blood-shedding and death. The guiltless died for the guilty, and guilty ones are justified. All sacrifice of old pointed on to this, the redemption wrought nearly nineteen centuries ago. Eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12). Gold and silver could never redeem a single sinner, or ransom a single soul. We are not redeemed by silver and gold, but by precious blood (1 Peter 1:18, 19). Whose? The precious blood of Christ. Where then, and how, can you obtain this redemption? Hear the answer.
That is in Christ Jesus.
Yes, in Christ, and Christ alone. Faith appropriates it. It is in Christ Jesus, risen from the dead, the Saviour seated in the glory of God. Thus we have both the work and Person of God's beloved Son in this precious verse. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It is impossible o obtaint it elsewhere. Christ finished the work, glorifying God (John 17:4). God glorified Christ in Himself (John 13:32). Is not that enough?
God is satisfied with Jesus;
Are you satisfied as well?
“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." But, adds the blessed God," Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." And this is true now for every one that believeth (Rom. 3:26). Post thou believe? Redemption is found in the risen Christ. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). Have you found it? Can you Join in the strain of that precious little verse?
"I want no other argument,
I need no other plea;
It is enough, that Jesus died,
And rose again for me.”
Do a single thing to please God you cannot, until you believe. Works are the fruit of faith. We work from salvation, not for it. We are saved, henceforth to worship and to work; but neither trying to worship nor working will save you. Then take it all home to your own soul now, for not a word of it can possibly fail; and go in peace. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:23, 24). E. H. C.