Have “All Sinned”?

I received a question recently about Romans 3:23, which states, “… all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (King James Version). The inquirer wanted to know how to respond to people who use this verse to assert that every single person, including the Blessed Virgin Mary, has committed sin. In this article, I will show why this assertion is erroneous.

Context

St. Paul was writing to the church in Rome, which was comprised of both Jewish and Greek converts to Christianity. Paul had identified and was addressing a problem within this church, namely, Jewish converts (i.e., Judaizers) were boasting to Greek converts (i.e., Gentiles) about their status as God’s people. The issue is especially evident in chapter 2 verses 17-29, in which Paul chides the Judaizers for doing this.

At the beginning of chapter 3, Paul admits that the Jews have an advantage over the Gentiles because of their prophets and circumcision (vv. 1-2). However, in verse 3, he levels the field so to speak by pointing out that the Jews have had their fair share of unbelievers.

Paul asks, “For what if some [Jews] did not believe?” He answers that even the unbelievers play a role in glorifying God in that their wickedness serves God’s purposes by showing His justice (v. 5).

After explaining all of this, Paul writes, “What then? Are we [Jews] better than they [the Gentiles]? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (v. 9). In other words, the Jews are in no better shape than the Gentiles because both groups have plenty of wicked people. Paul makes his position clear in the following nine verses.

Romans 3:10-18

In these verses, Paul quotes from several Old Testament passages in which the author laments the actions of the wicked, not the righteous. This becomes apparent when one reads the passages from which Paul quotes. See Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3, 5:9, 140:3, 10:7, 36:1, and Isaiah 59:7-8.

Let’s take Psalm 14 for example. This Psalm begins with, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good.” The context is obvious. The psalmist is talking about those fools who reject God. He is not talking about himself or even the faithful remnant of Israel that Scripture so frequently mentions.

So, Romans 3:9 does not mean that every single person is under sin or has sinned. It simply means that both sides are under sin because so many have sinned. One side is no better than the other in this respect.

Next, let’s look at the word “all.”

Does “All” Mean Everyone?

At first glance, the word “all” in Romans 3:23 seems to mean everyone, but context tells us that this is not the case. First, after the word “all,” Paul uses the word “sinned” to imply sin one commits rather than contracts. We contract Original Sin, but we commit personal sin. To say that all have sinned is hyperbole for the fact that most people have sinned, a point I will demonstrate in a few paragraphs.

In Scripture, to include Paul’s own writings, “all” does not always mean everyone. For example, Matthew 2:3 says that the news of Jesus’s birth troubled “all Jerusalem.” Does this mean that every baby, young child, mentally disabled, and unbelieving Jew was troubled?

Mark 7:3 states that “all Jews” washed their hands (i.e., ritual washing) before eating, but the previous verse says that Jesus’s disciples did not. Further, was the faith of the Roman Christians really preached throughout the entire world as Romans 1:8 relates? Did Paul really become “all things to all men” as 1 Corinthians 9:22 tells us? We must answer in the negative.

Additionally, whenever Paul writes that someone has “sinned,” he means personal sin. See Romans 2:12 and 2 Corinthians 12:21, 13:2 for example.

Now, let’s look at some people whom the Bible says never sinned.

Those Who Did Not Sin

First, we know that Zechariah and Elizabeth did not sin. Luke 1:6 states, “And [Zechariah and Elizabeth] were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.” In this verse, “all” means every commandment because the adverb “blamelessly” describes how they walked, and the adjective “righteous” describes their spiritual state.

Next, their son, John the Baptist, did not sin. Luke 1:15 says, “For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, … and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.” A little later, Jesus reveals that John is the greatest of everyone born of women (Matthew 11:11).

Thus, if John’s parents did not sin, and he whom the Holy Spirit filled from his mother’s womb is greater than them, then John certainly did not sin. Let us also remember that babies, young children, those with severe mental disabilities, and people who die before they sin do not sin.

Now that we know what Paul was not talking about, we naturally want to know what he was talking about.

What Paul Meant

Romans 3 talks about the state of sin among both Jews and Greeks, that there is no “difference” between them in this regard “… since all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Consider the following analogy.

For there is no difference between Tennesseans and Georgians; since all have a southern drawl and come short of the standard of enunciation. I am from Tennessee, and I can attest to the fact that most Tennesseans and Georgians have a southern drawl. But this does not mean that absolutely every citizen of these two states speaks this way. It simply means that, generally speaking, all have a drawl. There are exceptions of course.

The exceptions include infants, the mute, the deaf, those who were born in one of these two states but raised by parents who emigrated from the northern states, and those who became citizens of these states later in life. So, my statement is about the general lack of difference between the many Tennesseans and Georgians as it relates to having a drawl. It is not about every citizen without exception.

From general appearances, I can honestly write that all Tennesseans and Georgians have a drawl, even though some exceptions exist. Similarly, Paul could honestly write that all Jews and Gentiles have sinned, even though some clearly did not. Paul simply used the language of appearances to admonish the Judaizers for their arrogant behavior.

Objection

One might object with the following: Romans 3:23 says both that “all have sinned” and that all “come short of the Glory of God.” Accordingly, since all come short of God’s glory, then all must have sinned.

Reply: Romans 3 continues what began in Romans 1. In Romans 1, Paul begins his discourse about the Jews and the Greeks in verses 13-16. In verses 17 and 18, Paul differentiates between the justified and the unrighteous.

Regarding the unrighteous, he writes that they darkened their hearts and exchanged the glory of God for manmade images of created things. In verses 25-32, Paul clarifies that these wicked people “worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator” and committed countless other sins.

Therefore, to come short of God’s glory means to commit sin. Conversely, when one does not sin (e.g., Elizabeth, Zechariah, John the Baptist, Mary, and other righteous people), he/she does not come short of God’s glory.

God made humans in His image and likeness as a reflection of His glory. If/when we sin, we come short of God’s glory and exchange His glory for inferior things.

Final Thought

If you don’t remember anything else from this article, remember that Paul’s words, “all have sinned,” cannot ever include Jesus, John the Baptist, babies, young children who have not reached the age of reason, those who die before they commit sin, and those with severe mental disabilities.

Related Articles

For articles on the Blessed Virgin Mary’s sinlessness, please click here and here.

Click here for an article on moral perfect.

For an article on differentiating between mortal and venial sins, please click here.

Finally, please click here for an article about growing in/meriting grace.

[Social media appeal: Hello, readers! If you think my article, or any other article at Catholic Stand, will help others better understand and/or spread the faith, please post a link to your social media account(s). Thank you!]