Understanding How We Come Short of the Glory of God

The passage in view is Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." It is worth noting that the King James text says "come short," though many modern versions use "fall short." The underlying Greek term carries the idea of lacking, being behind, or failing to reach.

Before explaining "come short of the glory of God," we should glance at the context. In Romans 3:20, Paul writes that by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in God's sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Elsewhere he affirms that under a prior arrangement, those who did the law could live by it. The issue in Romans 3 is the unveiling of a new manner of righteousness:

"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference." Romans 3:21–22

The standard of righteousness has not been lowered. It is the same righteousness witnessed in the law and the prophets. What has changed is the way that righteousness is now manifested and received: apart from the law, through faith in Christ.

Then Paul adds: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. Two statements are made: all have sinned, and all come short of the glory of God. We should be careful not to collapse the second into a mere restatement of the first, as if "come short of the glory of God" simply meant "commit acts of sin."

Scripture acknowledges that there was such a thing as righteousness according to the law. Zacharias and Elizabeth are described as "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" Luke 1:6. The Torah itself contains examples of individuals and communities living righteously within that covenantal framework.

Therefore, "come short of the glory of God" cannot mean that no one has ever lived righteously in any sense. Rather, it speaks to a deeper reality. God, in his glory, is above and beyond every creature. He is unique in majesty and perfection and has declared, "my glory will I not give to another" Isaiah 42:8. Even the most faithful human being—measured within any given arrangement—does not and cannot share that glory. There is always a distance between Creator and creature.

All have sinned: that is, all have committed acts of transgression. Yet in this present age, God is "not imputing their trespasses unto them" 2 Corinthians 5:19 but offering reconciliation as a gift by grace through faith. At the same time, all "come short of the glory of God": none of us attains to his glory or stands on his level. We are dependent beings who cannot bridge that gap by moral performance, whether under law or outside of it.

So the verse communicates two related truths. First, universally, we are sinners. Second, even apart from particular sins, we are finite creatures who do not and cannot reach up to the glory that belongs to God alone. That is why righteousness must be received as a gift on the basis of Christ's work, rather than achieved by human effort. It is not simply that our sin record is long; it is that the glory to which we would need to rise is altogether beyond us.

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