If you have sat through many church services or heard many preachers, you have probably heard Romans 3:23 quoted "for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." It is this verse, and primarily this verse, that we use to say that all of mankind are sinners. We hear the "all" of this verse and apply it to everyone. The problem with that is we overlook the punctuation and the continuance of Paul's thought. Verse 24 (which is one of the reason I don't like verses in the Bible) continues with Paul's thought by saying "and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." While we shout "AMEN!" at the proclamation of verse 23 and believe it applies to everyone, we struggle to see that what Paul is setting forth is NOT to keep people in a sinner mindset but to bring us to a justification mindset that is based upon the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.
Here are those verses in context: "…23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;…"
Another area in the Romans comes out of chapter 5. Verse 12 states "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to ALL men because ALL sinned." Once again, the religious minded will shout a hearty "AMEN!" to this news because we have such a sin consciousness. However in verse 18 we read "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for ALL men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for ALL men." The way some people translate these verses is that the "all" in 12 means all but the "all" in the latter part of 18 is only for the church. Really? It's the same word translated as "all" but we have changed our understanding to suit our own thinking. Did Jesus die for all? Was His blood sufficient for all? Did He not cry out from the Cross "It IS Finished!" for all? I believe He did.
"12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-- 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men."
Allow me to show you a couple of more verses and then I will add some commentary.
Romans 11:32, "For God has consigned ALL to disobedience, that he may have mercy on ALL."
1 Corinthians 15:22, "For as in Adam ALL die, so also in Christ ALL will be made alive."
Much of Paul's writing were focused in these areas. He desired to illustrate the point that what was true in Adam as it related to all men was true in Christ as it related to all men. All means All. There is nowhere in his writing where Paul is content to leave us in the fall of Adam but to demonstrate what is true about us in the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. In essence what He has shown us is that all that was lost in Adam has been found in Christ.
The idea that "all" only counts for all when it deals with sin and bad things comes from a separation mindset. Separation from God was birthed out of Neoplatonism NOT the early church. However, these ideas and concepts have been so ingrained in our thinking that we have changed the meaning of the word "all" depending upon what it saying. We were never separated from God on His end. We were only separated from God in our minds (see Colossians 1:21). But thanks be to God that we have been reconciled through the body of Christ and that we are carried by the hope of the Gospel. That word "hope" means the "joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation."
What does this mean for us? How then do we respond to God's ALL encompassing grace & love?
BELIEVE!!!
2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is not willing that any should perish but that ALL should come to repentance. Repentance means to change the mind. It's time for us to throw out the notion that we are separated from God on His end. It's time to change our mind in regards to what we think it means to be close to God, pleasing to God, and/or acceptable to God. Let's repent of everything that keeps us from experiencing the abundant life of Christ.
ALL means ALL which means YOU ARE INCLUDED!!! Can you believe that?
