Romans 3:23

For all have sinned [1] [2] , and come short [3] of the glory of God; [4] [5]

  1. Both the Jews who had the law and the Gentiles who didn’t have the law failed to measure up to God’s glory.
  2. In context, Paul is comparing the Jews who have the law and the Gentiles who do not (Romans 2:14). Although the Jews have some advantages over the Gentiles (Romans 3:1), in the final analysis it makes little difference because all of us fall short of God’s glory. We all sin. We all go astray. We all need a Savior.
  3. To sin is to fall short of “the glorious lives God wills for us” (to quote the Message Bible). And all of us fall short.
  4. It is not God’s standards we fall short of, but his glory. Just as a caterpillar is unable to soar on the same level as a butterfly, we fall short of the divine life of God.
  5. King James Version