even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,
Parallel Translations
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even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,
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The rightewesnes no dout which is good before God cometh by the fayth of Iesus Christ vnto all and vpon all that beleve. Ther is no difference:
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To wit, the righteousnesse of God by the faith of Iesus Christ, vnto all, and vpon all that beleeue.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Romans 3:22 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.
- Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
- Galatians 2:16 yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.
- Romans 5:1-11 Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
- Colossians 3:11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
- Galatians 3:6-9 Even as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” Know therefore that those who are of faith are children of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.
- Philippians 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith,
- Matthew 22:11-12 But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless.
- Romans 2:1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.
- Romans 4:20-22 Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.”
- Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
- Acts 15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
- James 2:23 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
- Romans 4:3-13 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.” Is this blessing then pronounced on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them. He is the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision. For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
- Luke 15:22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet.
- Romans 9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who didn’t follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 22. Even the righteousness of God, etc. He shows…
22. Even the righteousness of God, etc. He shows in few words what this justification is, even that which is found in Christ and is apprehended by faith. At the same time, by introducing again the name of God, he seems to make God the founder, (autorem, the author,) and not only the approver of the righteousness of which he speaks; as though he had said, that it flows from him alone, or that its origin is from heaven, but that it is made manifest to us in Christ.
When therefore we discuss this subject, we ought to proceed in this way: First, the question respecting our justification is to be referred, not to the judgment of men, but to the judgment of God, before whom nothing is counted righteousness, but perfect and absolute obedience to the law; which appears clear from its promises and threatenings: if no one is found who has attained to such a perfect measure of holiness, it follows that all are in themselves destitute of righteousness. Secondly, it is necessary that Christ should come to our aid; who, being alone just, can render us just by transferring to us his own righteousness. You now see how the righteousness of faith is the righteousness of Christ. When therefore we are justified, the efficient cause is the mercy of God, the meritorious is Christ, the instrumental is the word in connection with faith. Hence faith is said to justify, because it is the instrument by which we receive Christ, in whom righteousness is conveyed to us. Having been made partakers of Christ, we ourselves are not only just, but our works also are counted just before God, and for this reason, because whatever imperfections there may be in them, are obliterated by the blood of Christ; the promises, which are conditional, are also by the same grace fulfilled to us; for God rewards our works as perfect, inasmuch as their defects are covered by free pardon.
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Unto all and upon all, etc. For the sake of amplifying, he repeats the same thing in different forms; it was, that he might more fully express what we have already heard, that faith alone is required, that the faithful are not distinguished by external marks, and that hence it matters not whether they be Gentiles or Jews.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The matter, as it were of this righteousness, is…
The matter, as it were of this righteousness, is Christ Jesus apprehended by faith, and for this end offered to all people, as without him all people are shut out from the kingdom of God.
Which we give to Jesus Christ, or which resteth upon him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by…
22 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:
Ver. 22. Upon all] So that none shall hinder their happiness.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He mentions the righteousness of God again, that he…
He mentions the righteousness of God again, that he may further explain it, by the means or instrument by which it is received, viz. faith; see Rom 4:11,12; 9:30; Phi 3:9; where there are several expressions to the same purpose, that this righteousness is without the law indeed, but it is by the hand of that faith by which we believe in Jesus, called therefore here, the faith of Jesus Christ.
Unto all and upon all them that believe; whether they be Jews or Gentiles, if they believe, excluding the self-justiciaries amongst the one, and the philosophers amongst the other.
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For there is no difference; they are not justified two several ways: see Rom 3:9.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain To declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness,....…
To declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness,.... This end is further explained, it being to declare the righteousness of God "at this time", under the Gospel dispensation; in which there was such a display of the grace, mercy, and goodness of God:
that he might be just; that is, appear to be so: God is naturally and essentially just in himself; and he is evidentially so in all his works, particularly in redemption by Christ; and when and while he is
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the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus: Jesus, the Saviour, is the object of faith, as he is the Lord our righteousness; the believer in Jesus is a real, and not a nominal one; God is the justifier of such in a declarative way, and God only, though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit; and which sentence of justification is pronounced by him on the foot of a perfect righteousness, which neither law nor justice can find fault with, but entirely approve of; and so he appears just and righteous, even though he justifies the sinner and the ungodly.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain To all - The Jews. And upon all -…
To all - The Jews. And upon all - The gentiles That believe: for there is no difference - Either as to the need of justification, or the manner of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 22. Even the righteousness of God] That method…
Verse 22. Even the righteousness of God] That method of saving sinners which is not of works, but by faith in Christ Jesus; and it is not restrained to any particular people, as the law and its privileges were, but is unto all mankind in its intention and offer, and becomes effectual to them that believe; for God hath now made no difference between the Jews and the Gentiles.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Even the righteousness of God - The apostle, having…
Even the righteousness of God - The apostle, having stated that the design of the gospel was to reveal a new plan of becoming just in the sight of God, proceeds here more fully to explain it. The explanation which he offers, makes it plain that the phrase so often used by him, “righteousness of God,” does not refer to an attribute of God, but to his plan of making people righteous. Here he says that it is by faith in Jesus Christ; but surely an attribute of God is not produced by faith in Jesus Christ. It means God’s mode of regarding people as righteous through their belief in Jesus Christ.
(That the “righteousness of God” cannot be explained of the attribute of justice, is obvious enough. It cannot be said of divine justice, that it is “unto and upon all them that believe.” But we are not reduced to the alternative of explaining the phrase, either of God’s justice, or God’s plan of justifying people. Why may we not understand it of that righteousness which Yahweh devised, Jesus executed, and the Spirit applies; and which is therefore justly denominated the righteousness of God? It consists in that conformity to law which Jesus manifested in his atoning death, and meritorious obedience. His death, by reason of his divine nature, was of infinite value. And when he voluntarily submitted to yield a life that was forfeited by no transgression of his own, the Law, in its penal part, was more magnified than if every descendant of Adam had sunk under the weight of its vengeance.
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Nor was the preceptive part of the Law less honored, in the spotless obedience of Christ. He abstained from every sin, fulfilled every duty, and exemplified every virtue. Neither God nor man could accuse him of failure in duty. To God he gave his piety, to man his glowing love, to friends his heart, to foes his pity and his pardon. And by the obedience of the Creator in human form, the precept of the Law was more honored than if the highest angels had come down to do reverence to it, in presence of people. Here then is a righteousness worthy of the name, divine, spotless, broad, lasting - beyond the power of language to characterize. It is that everlasting righteousness which Daniel predicted the Messiah should bring in. Adam’s righteousness failed and passed away. That of once happy angels perished too, but this shall endure. “The heavens,” says Yahweh,” shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner, but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished,” This righteousness is broad enough to cover every sinner and every sin. It is pure enough to meet the eye of God himself. It is therefore the sinner’s only shield. See the note at Rom 1:17, for the true meaning of the expression “righteousness of God.”)
By faith of Jesus Christ - That is, by faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, the expression, Mar 11:22, “Have the faith of God” (margin), means, have faith in God. So Act 3:16, the “faith of his name” “(Greek),” means, faith in his name. So Gal 2:20, the “faith of the Son of God” means, faith in the Son of God. This cannot mean that faith is the meritorious cause of salvation, but that it is the instrument or means by which we become justified. It is the state of mind, or condition of the heart, to which God has been pleased to promise justification. (On the nature of faith see the note at Mar 16:16.) God has promised that they who believe in Christ shall be pardoned and saved. This is his plan in distinction from the plan of those who seek to be justified by works.
Unto all and upon all - It is evident that these expressions are designed to be emphatic, but why both are used is not very apparent. Many have supposed that there was no essential difference in the meaning. If there be a difference, it is probably this: the first expression, “unto all” εἰς πᾶς eis pas, may denote that this plan of justification has come “(Luther)” unto all men, to Jews and Gentiles; that is, that it has been provided for them, and offered to them without distinction. The plan was ample for all, was suited for all, was equally necessary for all, and was offered to all. The second phrase, “upon all” ἐπὶ πᾶντας epi pantas, , may be designed to guard against the supposition that all therefore would be benefited by it, or be saved by the mere fact that the announcement had come to all. The apostle adds therefore, that the benefits of this plan must actually come upon all, or must be applied to all, if they would be justified. They could not be justified merely by the fact that the plan was provided, and that the knowledge of it had come to all, but by their actually coming under this plan, and availing themselves of it. Perhaps there is reference in the last expression, “upon all,” to a robe, or garment, that is placed upon one to hide his nakedness, or sin; compare Isa 64:6, also Phi 3:9.
For there is no difference - That is, there is no difference in regard to the matter under discussion. The apostle does not mean to say that there is no difference in regard to the talents, dispositions, education, and property of people; but there is no distinction in regard to the way in which they must be justified. All must be saved, if saved at all, in the same mode, whether Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, rich or poor, learned or ignorant. None can be saved by works; and all are therefore dependent on the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain by faith of--that is, "in"
by faith of--that is, "in"
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe--that is, perhaps, brought nigh "unto all" men the Gospel, and actually "upon all" believing men, as theirs in possession [LUTHER and others]; but most interpreters understand both statements" of believers as only a more emphatic way of saying that all believers, without distinction or exception, are put in possession of this gratuitous justification, purely by faith in Christ Jesus.
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for there is no difference.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 22. Even the righteousness of God—Even God’s justification or…
22. Even the righteousness of God—Even God’s justification or right-making of man. The righteousness of God here is the righteousness or right-making God purposes for man. (Note Rom_1:17.)
Faith of Jesus Christ—The faith of which Christ is the object, or the faith which Christ requires.
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This faith is not simply the belief of the intellect, embracing the historical facts of Christ’s character and death. It is the faith or fidelity of the whole man. It is the act of the assenting intellect, the consenting heart, and the accepting will, by which man’s soul deposits itself into the hands of the Redeemer, by his mighty arm to be carried through every danger into everlasting safety. (See note on Rom_10:10; Rom_1:17; Rom_2:6; and on Romans 5:24.) It is self-surrender to Christ. And as Christ is the very incarnation of goodness, holiness, and God, so does the soul pledge itself and give itself over to all goodness, holiness, and God for time and eternity. So does the blessed soul become harmonized and incorporated into the holy universe of God. He becomes part of the glorified Cosmos.
This righteousness or justification is unto all in its offer, and upon all in its accepted bestowment.
No difference—None in the impartial universality of the offer; none in the ample power of the acceptance.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 22. even] Perhaps translate but, i.e. with a sort…
22. even] Perhaps translate but, i.e. with a sort of contrast to the words just before. The “righteousness” was witnessed indeed by the O. T., but it resided in Christ and His work.
faith of Jesus Christ] Faith in Jesus Christ is certainly the meaning. The same Gr. construction occurs in Mar_11:22; Act_3:16; Gal_2:16; Gal_2:20; Eph_3:12; Php_3:9; with the same sense.
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In this verse the Saviour’s Name is first brought into the argument.
unto all and upon all] The Gr. phrases respectively indicate destination and bestowal. The sacred pardon was prepared for all believers, and is actually laid upon them as a “robe of righteousness.” (Isa_61:10.)
no difference] i.e., in respect of the need of the revealed justification. Between Jew and Gentile, and soul and soul, there were and are countless other differences; but in this respect, none. A mountain-top differs in level from a mine-floor; but it is as impossible to touch the stars from the mountain as from the mine. The least sinful human soul is as hopelessly remote from the Divine standard of holiness as the most sinful, and that standard is inexorable.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (22) A further definition of the nature of the…
(22) A further definition of the nature of the righteousness so given to the Christian by God; it is a righteousness that has its root in faith, and is coextensive with faith, being present in every believer.
By faith of Jesus Christ—i.e., by faith which has Christ for its object, “faith in Christ.” “Faith” in St. Paul’s writings implies an intense attachment and devotion. It has an intellectual basis, necessarily involving a belief in the existence, and in certain attributes, of the Person for whom it is entertained; but it is moral in its operation, a recasting of the whole emotional nature in accordance with this belief, together with a consequent change in character and practice. (See Excursus B: On the Meaning of the word Faith.)
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And upon all.—These words are wanting in the best MSS., and should be omitted.
For there is no difference.—The righteousness that God gives is given to all that believe, without any distinction of Jew or Gentile; for all equally need it, and it is free equally to all.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus…
Even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ unto all (and upon all is added in the Textus Receptus, but ill supported) them that believe: for there is no distinction. We observe that the expression here used is not h dia pistewv but simply dia pistewv . Thus dia pistewv does not naturally connect itself with dikaiosunh Yeou as defining it, but rather with eiv pantav which follows, and perhaps with reference to the pefanerwtai of ver. 21 understood. The idea, then, may be still that of God"s own righteousness, manifested in Christ, unto or towards all believers, who through faith apprehended it and became sharers in it. When St. Paul elsewhere speaks of the believer"s imputed righteousness, his language is different, so as to make his meaning plain. Thus Rom_4:6, w o Yeozetai dikaiosunhn dikaiosunhv pistewv ; Rom_5:17, thv dwreav thv dikaiosunhv ; Rom_9:30 dikaiosunhn thtsewv ; Php_3:9, thnhn epi th pistei . What we contend for is simply this that the phrase dikaiosunh Yeou means God"s own righteousness, which, manifested in the atoning Christ, embraces believers, so that to them too righteousness may be imputed (Rom_4:11)
The distinctively Christian righteousness.
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The apostle has clearly shown that righteousness by the Law is not possessed by men, and that in this way is no hope for the salvation of the human race. Such is the negative conclusion to which facts and reason compel him. Yet it is not his vocation to preach a doctrine of despair. True, without righteousness there can be no salvation. Therefore, if light is to be cast upon human darkness, it must come else whither than from the Law. So it is that St. Paul preaches the new and distinctively Christian righteousness, to be secured by conditions that may be fulfilled by men of every race a righteousness that avails before God, and ensures the acceptance and the spiritual welfare and elevation of men.
I THE CHARACTER AND DESIGNATION OF THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS: IT IS OF GOD, OR DIVINE.
1. It has its source in God. In this it is distinguished from the rectitude which is "by works;" that in a sense is of human origin. It is shown to be "of grace," i.e. to be the provision of Divine favour, free and undeserved. And further, this expression, "of God," implies the perfection of this righteousness in comparison with all beside.
2. It is divinely adapted by.God to man. There is presupposition of man"s helplessness and dependence; it is presumed which is indeed the fact that man cannot work out a righteousness of his own. Hence there is a ground for this new righteousness in a Divine provision of substitution. The apostle would be misunderstood were his teaching upon this point to be interpreted, as some have interpreted it, as representing God as indifferent to the person by whom suffering is endured and obedience rendered. Yet Christ, by his suffering the consequences of sin in this humanity and by his perfect obedience and holiness, has laid the foundation for the acquisition by man of the distinctively Christian righteousness.
3. It avails and is acceptable before God. According to the representations of the context, it consists in the remission of sins, and acquittal and acceptance before the Divine tribunal, and in the manifestation of positive Divine approval; which may be regarded as the two parts of "justification." It is evident that such righteousness is imputed, and not inherent a theological expression which must not, however, be interpreted to imply its unreality. Thus the Divinity of the Christian righteousness may be made apparent, as an object of admiration and of aspiration.
II THE MEANS OF THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. In order to the fulfilment of this condition upon which the Christian righteousness may he attained, there must be:
1. Belief in the Scripture testimony concerning Christ, that he is the Son of God and the appointed Saviour of mankind. This is indispensable; for faith is not a vague sentiment it has an Object, and an Object which justifies and deserves it. Yet, though indispensable, this is not sufficient. There must be also:
2. Trust or confidence in Christ as a personal Saviour. Faith is not merely intellectual assent; it is the consent of the heart and the will. It is capable of degree, and there is strong faith and weak faith. But the important point is that the soul, in the attitude and exercise of faith, is brought into personal relation with the holy Saviour.
III THE UNIVERSALITY OF THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS: IT IS UNTO ALL, AND UPON ALL, THEM THAT BELIEVE. The rectitude itself is a possession which men may share, whatever their nationality, their condition in life, their individual history. And the condition of its attainment is equally universal; there is nothing in faith which limits its exercise to any special members, or any section of the human race. In this Christianity proves itself to be and this is its glory, its Divinity the universal religion.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The righteousness of God which is by the faith…
Rom_3:22
The righteousness of God which is by the faith of Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.
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This righteousness is
I. Divine in its nature.
II. Free in its dispensation--unto and upon all them that believe.
III. Unlimited in its offer--there is no difference. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Gods grace abundant
Gods grace resembles a flood of water, which not only reaches to believers, but comes upon them like the waves of the sea, to cover all their unrighteousness and drown all their guilt. Their sins sink into its depths like stones in the midst of the ocean, to be remembered against them no more forever. (T. G. Horton.)
For there is no difference.
All involved in the same peril
When the ship is wrecked what difference does it make that some should be drowned far out at sea, and others come nearer land, and there be lost? or even that one is within arms length of the shore when he sinks forever out of sight? What does it avail? They are all lost. This world is a wrecked world; the strongest soul cannot reach the haven of a perfect state of being in his own strength. We are all helpless against the storm of lightning and wind and waves. There is no difference, for all have sinned. (H. Elvet Lewis.)
The right platform
1. The truth laid down here and in Rom_3:23 is of immense moment. You must take your right position if you wish to journey in a right direction. At a great railway junction the main thing is to get on to the right platform for the station you want to reach. So with all who wish to reach heaven. But what is that platform? That of self-condemnation. It is the laying aside of every self-righteous, self-excusing plea, and taking the place of a sinner in Gods sight.
2. The Old Version, There is no difference, scarcely puts the truth so clearly as the New. There is a wide difference between one and another as to the measure of responsibility and the amount of guilt. Great is the difference between an Englishman and an Arab; between a youth yielding for the first time to some subtle temptation and the hoary-headed sinner who has been the means of stumbling to multitudes.
3. But in spite of these differences there is no distinction. There is not one who has kept the law. All have fallen short of the glory of God. At a match in archery many try their skill and some come nearer than others; but the only matter of importance is whether anyone actually hits the eye. If otherwise all alike fail. In the matter before us perfect holiness is the end of Gods law. But who has reached it? No doubt some may come nearer than others, but where is one who has never failed?
4. Own this before God. Do not put in any claim for arrest of judgment. Do not try to lull conscience to sleep by imagining yourself no worse than others. One sin is enough to prove you guilty, how much more thousands?
5. Therefore learn the lesson. Stoop and take the lowest place--willing to be saved on the same footing as a criminal. God be merciful to me a sinner must be your only plea. Then you are in the right direction. Keep on that line and you will reach your journeys end. (G. Everard, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 22. Even the righteousness … by faith of Jesus…
22. Even the righteousness … by faith of Jesus Christ. The Gospel, wherein we are “justified by faith, and have peace with God through Jesus Christ.” All were guilty under the law, but the law and prophets pointed to forgiveness in Christ. Unto all them that believe. There is justification for every sincere believer, whether Jew or Gentile, for there is no difference between them, but not for the unbelieving impenitent.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 22. “The righteousness of God through faith of Jesus…
22. “The righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ unto all who believe, for there is no difference.” In justification, we have faith in Christ; in sanctification, we have the faith of Jesus Christ, who never had the faith of pardon, as He never had any sins to be pardoned, but He always had the faith of purity, i. e., such faith in God as all the angels and redeemed spirits in heaven and earth enjoy, i. e., identical in quality though not in quantity. We find here there is actually no difference in all the world, the church member and the heathen standing on the same broad plain of universal condemnation till saved by personal application to Christ. In the preceding exegesis, we see that he is not a Christian who is one outwardly, neither is baptism that which is outward on the flesh; but he is a Christian who is one inwardly, and baptism is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Hence you see plainly the utter insignificance of all ceremonial professions without the spiritual experience; while the latter is just as valid in the sight of God without the visible ordinances as with them. The true salvation is a pure spirituality in toto. Hence there is no difference between the professor and the non-professor, the whole problem being settled on the question of possession. You can profess much and have nothing. You can have an uttermost salvation without the attestations of ecclesiastical ceremonies. Paul utterly and eternally sweeps dead ritualism from the field.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Romans
WORLD-WIDE SIN AND WORLD-WIDE REDEMPTION
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NO DIFFERENCE
Rom 3:22.
The things in which all men are alike are far more important than those in which they differ. The diversities are superficial, the identities are deep as life. Physical processes and wants are the same for everybody. All men, be they kings or beggars, civilised or savage, rich or poor, wise or foolish, cultured or illiterate, breathe the same breath, hunger and thirst, eat and drink, sleep, are smitten by the same diseases, and die at last the same death. We have all of us one human heart. Tears and grief, gladness and smiles, move us all. Hope, fear, love, play the same music upon all heart-strings. The same great law of duty over-arches every man, and the same heaven of God bends above him.
Religion has to do with the deep-seated identities and not with the superficial differences. And though there have been many aristocratic religions in the world, it is the great glory of Christianity that it goes straight to the central similarities, and brushes aside, as of altogether secondary importance, all the subordinate diversities, grappling with the great facts which are common to humanity, and with the large hopes which all may inherit.
Paul here, in his grand way, triumphs and rises above all these small differences between man and man, more pure or less pure, Jew or Gentile, wise or foolish, and avers that, in regard of the deepest and most important things, ‘there is no difference,’ and so his Gospel is a Gospel for the world, because it deals with all men on the same level. Now I wish to work out this great glory and characteristic of the Gospel system in a few remarks, and to point out to you the more important of these things in which all men, be they what or who they may, stand in one category and have identical experiences and interests.
I. First, there is no difference in the fact of sin.
Now let us understand that the Gospel does not assert that there is no difference in the degrees of sin. Christianity does not teach, howsoever some of its apostles may seem to have taught, or unconsciously lent themselves to representations which imply the view that there was no difference between a man who ‘did by nature the things contained in the law,’ as Paul says, and the man who set himself to violate law. There is no such monstrous teaching in the New Testament as that all blacks are the same shade, all sin of the same gravity, no such teaching as that a man that tries according to his light to do what is right stands on exactly the same level as the man who flouts all such obligations, and has driven the chariots of his lusts and passions through every law that may stand in his way.
But even whilst we have to insist upon that, that the teaching of my text is not of an absolute identity of criminality, but only an universal participation in criminality, do not let us forget that, if you take the two extremes, and suppose it possible that there were a best man in all the world, and a worst man in all the world, the difference between these two is not perhaps so great as at first sight it looks. For we have to remember that motives make actions, and that you cannot judge of these by considering those, that ‘as a man thinketh in his heart,’ and not as a man does with his hands, ‘so is he.’ We have to remember, also, that there may be lives, sedulously and immaculately respectable and pure, which are white rather with the unwholesome leprosy of disease than with the wholesome purity of health.
In Queen Elizabeth’s time, the way in which they cleaned the hall of a castle, the floor of which might be covered with remnants of food and all manner of abominations, was to strew another layer of rushes over the top of the filth, and then they thought themselves quite neat and respectable. And that is what a great many of you do, cover the filth well up with a sweet smelling layer of conventional proprieties, and think yourselves clean, and the pinks of perfection. God forbid that I should say one word that would seem to cast any kind of slur upon the effort that any man makes to do what he knows to be right, but this I proclaim, or rather my text proclaims for me, that, giving full weight and value to all that, and admitting the existence of variations in degree, the identity is deeper than the diversity; and there is ‘not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not.’
Oh, dear friends! it is not a question of degree, but of direction; not how far the ship has gone on her voyage, but how she heads. Good and evil are the same in essence, whatever be their intensity and whatever be their magnitude. Arsenic is arsenic, whether you have a ton of it or a grain; and a very small dose will be enough to poison. The Gospel starts with the assertion that there is no difference in the fact of sin. The assertion is abundantly confirmed. Does not conscience assent? We all admit ‘faults,’ do we not? We all acknowledge ‘imperfections.’ It is that little word ‘sin’ which seems to bring in another order of considerations, and to command the assent of conscience less readily. But sin is nothing except fault considered in reference to God’s law. Bring the notion of God into the life, and ‘faults’ and ‘slips’ and ‘weaknesses,’ and all the other names by which we try to smooth down the ugliness of the ugly thing, start up at once into their tone, magnitude, and importance, and stand avowed as sins.
Well now, if there be, therefore, this universal consciousness of imperfection, and if that consciousness of imperfection has only need to be brought into contact with God, as it were, to flame thus, let me remind you, too, that this fact of universal sinfulness puts us all in one class, no matter what may be the superficial difference. Shakespeare and the Australian savage, the biggest brain and the smallest, the loftiest and the lowest of us, the purest and the foulest of us, we all come into the same order. It is a question of classification. ‘The Scripture hath concluded all under sin,’ that is to say, has shut all men up as in a prison. You remember in the French Revolution, all manner of people were huddled indiscriminately into the same dungeon of the Paris prisons. You would find a princess and some daughter of shame from the gutters; a boor from the country and a landlord, a count, a marquis, a savant, a philosopher and an illiterate workman, all together in the dungeons. They kept up the distinctions of society and of class with a ghastly mockery, even to the very moment when the tumbrils came for them. And so here are we all, in some sense inclosed within the solemn cells of this great prison-house, and whether we be wise or foolish, we are prisoners, whether we have titles or not, we are prisoners. You may be a student, but you are a sinner: you may be a rich Manchester merchant, but you are a sinner; you may be a man of rank, but you are a sinner. Naaman went to Elisha and was very much offended because Elisha treated him as a leper who happened to be a nobleman. He wanted to be treated as a nobleman who happened to be a leper. And that is the way with a great many of us; we do not like to be driven into one class with all the crowd of evildoers. But, my friend, ‘there is no difference.’ ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’
II. Again, there is no difference in the fact of God’s love to us.
God does not love men because of what they are, therefore He does not cease to love them because of what they are. His love to the sons of men is not drawn out by their goodness, their morality, their obedience, but it wells up from the depths of His own heart, because ‘it is His nature and property,’ and if I may so say, He cannot help loving. You do not need to pump up that great affection by any machinery of obedience and of merits; it rises like the water in an Artesian well, of its own impulse, with ebullient power from the central heat, and spreads its great streams everywhere. And therefore, though our sin may awfully disturb our relations with God, and may hurt and harm us in a hundred ways, there is one thing it cannot do, it cannot stop Him from loving us. It cannot dam back His great love, which flows out for ever towards all His creatures, and laves them all in its gentle, strong flood, from which nothing can draw them away. ‘In Him we live, and move, and have our being,’ and to live in Him, whatever else it may mean-and it means a great deal more-is most certainly to live in His love. A man can as soon pass out of the atmosphere in which he breathes as he can pass out of the love of God. We can no more travel beyond that great over-arching firmament of everlasting love which spans all the universe than a star set in the blue heavens can transcend the liquid arch and get beyond its range. ‘There is no difference’ in the fact that all men, unthankful and evil as they are, are grasped and held in the love of God.
But there is a difference. Sin cannot dam God’s love back, but sin has a terrible power in reference to the love of God. Two things it can do. It can make us incapable of receiving the highest blessings of that love. There are many mercies which God pours ‘upon the unthankful and the evil.’ These are His least gifts; His highest and best cannot be given to the unthankful and the evil. They would if they could, but they cannot, because they cannot be received by them. You can shut the shutters against the light; you can close the vase against the stream. You cannot prevent its shining, you cannot prevent its flowing, but you can prevent yourself from receiving its loftiest and best blessings.
And another awful power that my sin has in reference to God’s love is, that it can modify the form which God’s love takes in its dealings with me. We may force Him to do ‘His work,’ ‘His strange work,’ as Isaiah calls it, and to punish when He would fain only succour and comfort and bless. Just as a fog in the sky does not touch the sun, but turns it to our eyes into a fiery ball, red and lurid, so the mist of my sin coming between me and God, may, to my apprehension and to my capacity of reception, solemnly make different that great love of His. But yet there is no difference in the fact of God’s love to us.
III. Thirdly, there is no difference in the purpose and power of Christ’s Cross for us all.
‘He died for all.’ The area over which the purpose and the power of Christ’s death extend is precisely conterminous with the area over which the power of sin extends. It cannot be-blessed be God!-that the raven Sin shall fly further than the dove with the olive branch in its mouth. It cannot be that the disease shall go wider than the cure. And so, dear friends, I have to come to you now with this message. No matter what a man is, how far he has gone, how sinful he has been, how long he has stayed away from the sweetness and grace of that great sacrifice on the Cross, that death was for him. The power of Christ’s sacrifice makes possible the forgiveness of all the sins of all the world, past, present, and to come. The worth of that sacrifice, which was made by the willing surrender of the Incarnate Son of God to the death of the Cross, is sufficient for the ransom price of all the sins of all men.
Nor is it only the power of the Cross which is all embracing, but its purpose also. In the very hour of Christ’s death, there stood, clear and distinct, before His divine omniscience, each man, woman, and child of the race. And for them all, grasping them all in the tenderness of His sympathy and in the clearness of His knowledge, in the design of His sufferings for them all, He died, so that every human being may lay his hand on the head of the sacrifice, and know ‘his guilt was there,’ and may say, with as triumphant and appropriating faith as Paul did, ‘He loved me,’ and in that hour of agony and love ‘gave Himself for me.’
To go back to a metaphor already employed, the prisoners are gathered together in the prison, not that they may be slain, but ‘God hath included them all,’ shut them all up, ‘that He might have mercy upon all.’ And so, as it was in the days of Christ’s life upon earth, so is it now, and so will it be for ever. All the crowd may come to Him, and whosoever comes ‘is made whole of whatsoever disease he had.’ There are no incurables nor outcasts. ‘There is no difference.’
IV. Lastly, there is no difference in the way which we must take for salvation.
The only thing that unites men to Jesus Christ is faith. You must trust Him, you must trust the power of His sacrifice, you must trust the might of His living love. You must trust Him with a trust which is self-distrust. You must trust Him out and out. The people with whom Paul is fighting, in this chapter, were quite willing to admit that faith was the thing that made Christians, but they wanted to tack on something besides. They wanted to tack on the rites of Judaism and obedience to the moral law. And ever since men have been going on in that erroneous rut. Sometimes it has been that people have sought to add a little of their own morality; sometimes to add ceremonies and sacraments. Sometimes it has been one thing and sometimes it has been another; but there are not two ways to the Cross of Christ, and to the salvation which He gives. There is only one road, and all sorts of men have to come by it. You cannot lean half upon Christ and half upon yourselves, like the timid cripple that is not quite sure of the support of the friendly arm. You cannot eke out the robe with which He will clothe you with a little bit of stuff of your own weaving. It is an insult to a host to offer to pay for entertainment. The Gospel feast that Christ provides is not a social meal to which every guest brings a dish. Our part is simple reception, we have to bring empty hands if we would receive the blessing.
We must put away superficial differences. The Gospel is for the world, therefore the act by which we receive it must be one which all men can perform, not one which only some can do. Not wisdom, nor righteousness, but faith joins us to Christ. And, therefore, people who fancy themselves wise or righteous are offended that ‘special terms’ are not made with them. They would prefer to have a private portion for themselves. It grates against the pride of the aristocratic class, whether it be aristocratic by culture-and that is the most aristocratic of all-or by position, or anything else-it grates against their pride to be told: ‘You have to go in by that same door that the beggar is going in at’; and ‘there is no difference.’ Therefore, the very width of the doorway, that is wide enough for all the world, gets to be thought narrowness, and becomes a hindrance to our entering. As Naaman’s servant put a common-sense question to him, so may I to you. ‘If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?’ Ay! that you would! ‘How much more when He says “Wash and be clean!”‘ There is only one way of getting dirt off, and that is by water. There is only one way of getting sin off, and that is by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is only one way of having that blood applied to your heart, and that is trusting Him. ‘The common salvation’ becomes ours when we exercise ‘the common faith.’ ‘There is no difference’ in our sins. Thank God! ‘there is no difference’ in the fact that He grasps us with His love. There is no difference in the fact that Jesus Christ has died for us all. Let there be no difference in our faith, or there will be a difference, deep as the difference between Heaven and Hell; the difference between them that believe and them that believe not, which will darken and widen into the difference between them that are saved and them that perish.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus…
even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction ;
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.