My Daily Pause

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… – Romans 3:23

That fragment of sentence gets a lot of play as a standalone statement – probably because it is given its own verse. It seems like the tendency is to chop up this section of scripture so that we get

…and we are justified by his grace … – Romans 3:24a

This is wrong and misuses the verses to support “faith only” doctrine.

When taken as a whole the phrase says something much different:

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. – Romans 3:22b-25

The key portion of Paul’s statement is about the redemption that is “in Christ.” Paul used the phrase “in Christ” at least 150 times in his letters and he meant a very specific situation by it. To be in Christ is to become a part of his body. The body is Christ’s church, and he is the head.

When Paul wrote these verses, he wanted us to know that no one person was better than another when it comes to our salvation. We all need to find our way into Christ and not expect to be able to earn salvation or expect it to just happen. It comes through obedience.

Daily Bible reading for October 8

Psalm 68
1 Kings 3
Ezekiel 29-30
Romans 3:9-20