The Meaning of Romans 3:23: Fall Short of the Glory of God?

Romans 3:23 says all humans “fall short” of God’s glory by sinning. What is God’s glory? Is there anything we can do to measure up to it?

by Jordan Iacobucci

Topics: Doctrine, Christian Living, Overcoming

The Meaning of Romans 3:23: Fall Short of the Glory of God? — Every human regularly falls short of God’s righteousness like an archer always missing the mark of the bull’s-eye.

What does Romans 3:23 say?

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Here’s an uncomfortable truth you may not want to hear:

You’ve sinned.

Therefore, you’re a sinner.

How do I know?

In Romans 3:23, Paul writes, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

That means you and I—and everyone who has ever lived—have sinned. No one except Jesus Christ Himself is free from sin.

In a world divided in virtually every other way, we are all united in this one thing: we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10; 1 John 1:8).

But what is the glory of God? Is there anything we can do to get back on track once we’ve sinned?

What does it mean to fall short of the glory of God?

Multiple Greek words are translated as “sin” in the New Testament. In Romans 3:23, the word is hamartanō, which comes from the Greek words for “missing the mark.” In other words, breaking the eternal laws of God—which is the mark.

This describes the human experience of sin. We may try our best to be righteous and do the right thing, yet we still miss the mark. Like an archer shooting arrows at a target but falling short of the bull’s-eye, every human regularly falls short of God’s righteousness.

Like a trained archer shooting arrows at a target but falling short of the bull’s-eye, every human regularly falls short of God’s righteousness. Aiming for righteousness should always be the goal, but it isn’t easy. Even Paul lamented his own struggle with sin. Only a few chapters later in Romans, the apostle painfully recounts the grueling process of trying to resist sin:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . for I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:15-19, English Standard Version).

How does it feel to try to do the right thing and yet find yourself slipping back into old habits and sin? Nearly 2,000 years after Paul wrote these words, they still ring true.

Romans 3:23 reveals God in stark contrast to our grim reality. Where humans will always err toward sin, God is mighty and perfectly able to remain sin-free (Psalm 18:30; 2 Corinthians 12:9). The “glory of God” in this verse describes His perfect and unending righteousness.

God’s perfect character is the mark

Not only has God never missed the mark, He is the perfect “mark” for us to look to. We aim to be perfect, as God is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Yes, God’s goal for us is perfection, as God is perfect. Thankfully, He gives us His law to reveal what God’s perfection looks like. God’s law defines what sin is and how to avoid it (Romans 8:7).

Not only has God never missed the mark, He is the perfect “mark” for us to look to. We aim to be perfect, as God is perfect. His perfect character is revealed in His 10 Commandments, each a different aspect of His righteousness—honesty, loyalty, purity, etc. (To learn how God’s law defines His character, read “The Law: A Reflection of God’s Character.”)

Therefore, when we break God’s law, we are found lacking in God’s righteous character—we are missing the mark that is our Father in heaven.

Here we see the great contrast between humans, who sin even when they struggle not to, and God, who is eternally perfect.

Thankfully, God is not only righteous but also merciful. Knowing how easy it is for humans to miss the goal of His faultless character, God offers us a way to deal with sin.

What does sin do to us?

Sin, which is the “transgression of [God’s] law” (1 John 3:4, King James Version), separates us from God because He refuses to dwell with anything evil (Psalm 5:4). When we sin, purposefully or not, we erect a barrier between ourselves and our Creator.

The death penalty for sin — **The death penalty.** If you’ve sinned, even once, you've earned the death penalty. There’s nothing you can do by yourself to remove that penalty.

Even worse, the natural result of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). As a result, if you’ve sinned, even once, you’ve earned the death penalty.

Each time we miss the mark and our arrow falls short of the bull’s-eye, we bring that death penalty upon ourselves.

And you’ve already sinned.

You can do nothing today to undo the sin you committed yesterday. You may deeply regret it and do all that is in your power to undo the physical damage it caused, but the sin is still committed.

The death penalty still hangs over your head as your debt for breaking God’s perfect law.

So, can you do anything?

You’ve sinned—now what?

Romans 3:23 doesn’t ask whether or not you’ve sinned. It tells you plainly and correctly: you have sinned. You have already fallen short of the glory of God.

Fortunately, that isn’t the end of the story.

The perfect God knows our weaknesses and knows when we genuinely want to repent. He wants us to succeed in our struggle with sin and to become like Him, perfect in all our ways.

That’s why He was willing to sacrifice Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to atone for our sins—for your sins.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

(To learn more about this verse, read “What Does John 3:16 Mean? “God So Loved the World””)

Think about that for a moment.

God looks at you personally. He sees you. Despite all your faults, mistakes and weaknesses, He sees someone worth saving—someone worth dying for.

God wants to share His glorious, perfect character with you (Romans 8:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; Hebrews 2:10).

The glory God plans to share with us is beyond all human comprehension (1 Corinthians 2:9). We know very little of what God has in store for us, but we do know this: we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2)—glorious, perfect in our ways, never again to sin.

(To learn more about what the Bible reveals about our future and potential, read “Why Were You Born?”)

Does this all sound too good to be true?

By human means, it is. Thankfully for us, God doesn’t operate using human means.

Repent of falling short of God’s glory

You may ask, “So, what do we have to do to attain these promises?”

The answer is in Peter’s famous Pentecost sermon: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Repentance offers the opportunity to be forgiven—to have our sins wiped out and expunged from our record. It’s the beginning of a lifelong struggle against sin but an essential step in the right direction.

You are a sinner. By definition, you have fallen short of the glory that is our perfect God. But that doesn’t mean you have to stay that way.

Repent and turn away from the things that keep you from hitting the mark. In so doing, you can start down a path that leads to God’s glory—a perfect, sinless existence.

Watch this video to learn more about sin and your need to overcome it.