Whether All Are Under Sin and Guilty Before God in Romans 1 and 3

The question touches a major theme in Romans: the relationship of different groups (Jews, Gentiles, believers, unbelievers) to sin and guilt before God.

Romans 1:18 states:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness."

Here, Paul speaks of a certain class of people: those who possess some measure of truth about God ("that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them") yet suppress that truth and turn to idolatry and immorality. The wrath of God is said to be "revealed from heaven" against such ungodliness and unrighteousness.

This description does not apply indiscriminately to every person in exactly the same way, but to those who "hold the truth in unrighteousness" and reject the witness they have been given. It is a real, historical display of wrath in a time when God was not operating in the present "age of silence," but in a period when his judgments were openly manifest.

When we consider Romans 3, the question is often framed by the famous statement that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That verse does indeed teach a universal sin problem. Yet the question raised here is more specific: does Paul teach that every human being, in every sense and at every time, stands under God's wrath as guilty?

In Romans 3:9, Paul writes:

"What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin."

This verse affirms that, as a category, "both Jews and Gentiles... are all under sin." In the larger argument, Paul is demonstrating that neither group can claim inherent superiority: both need God's righteousness.

However, not every individual within those groups remains in precisely the same relationship to sin once the gospel is received. The same epistle goes on to describe those who are justified, reconciled, and no longer under wrath. Moreover, in the early chapters of Romans Paul is still dealing primarily within the framework of the time in which the kingdom offer and the Pentecostal manifestations were present.

When we later read:

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Romans 8:9)

Paul is addressing a particular audience ("ye") who had experienced the indwelling of the Spirit in a manifest Pentecostal way. For them, being "in the Spirit" and having the Spirit dwell in them marked them out as belonging to Christ in a period when that Pentecostal reality was present and evident. Others who had not received that Spirit in that way were "none of his."

Thus, at that stage in redemptive history, Paul can speak of some as still under sin and wrath, while others---who have received the Spirit and believed the message given to them---stand in a different position. To ask, "Are we all under sin and guilty before God?" without reference to this differentiation is to flatten the argument.

From one angle, all humanity "in Adam" is under sin; this is the universal problem. From another angle, once a person trusts the gospel applicable to that dispensation and is brought into the standing described in Paul's letters, that person is no longer in the same judicial position. He or she is justified, has peace with God, and is no longer the object of revealed wrath as in Romans 1:18.

So, the answer must be nuanced:

• Yes, in Adam, both Jews and Gentiles share a universal problem: all are under sin by nature, and apart from God's provision stand guilty.
• No, it does not follow that every person at every moment remains under wrath and guilt in the same way, once the saving provision of God is received.
• In Romans 1:18, the focus is on those who suppress revealed truth and are thus under God's wrath.
• In Romans 8:9 and related passages, Paul speaks of those in whom the Spirit dwells as belonging to Christ and therefore not in the same condemned state.

The universality of sin is affirmed; the ongoing status of each person relative to guilt and wrath depends upon whether that person has believed the message God has given and entered into the standing described in Paul's gospel.