“…for all have sinner and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
The Problem
Salvation is good news, but it comes to us against a backdrop of bad news. The bad news: we are all sinners. No one on earth, past, present or future, is without sin.
The Greek word for “sin” literally means to “miss the mark.” It describes a bowman who drew back his string, released his arrow, but failed to hit the bullseye. Similarly, sin involves missing the target. The verse we just looked at tells us: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin is falling short of God’s standard of perfection.
To help you understand this concept, I must attack a popular myth upheld by the media and sometimes even the church. The idea is that sin can be measured by degree.
For many of us, criminals seem like big-time sinners, while those of us who tell little lies are lightweight sinners. It appears logical to believe that those in the county jail have not sinned as seriously as those in the state penitentiary. But sin looks different from God’s perspective.
In Scripture, sin is not measured by degree. Either we fall short of God’s glory or we don’t. Since the entire sin question pivots on this point, let’s make sure we understand our target.
The word “glory” means to put something on display, to show it off. Sin is missing the mark, and the mark is to properly “put God on display.” When we view the issue from this perspective, our understanding of sin begins to change. Any time we have ever done anything that did not reveal accurately who and what
God is, any time we fail to perfectly reflect the character of God, then we have sinned.
The story is told of two men who were exploring an island when, suddenly, a volcano erupted. In moments, the two found themselves surrounded by molten lava. Several feet away was a clearing and a path to safety. To get there, however, they would have to jump across the river of melted rock.
The first gentlemen was an active senior citizen, but hardly an outstanding physical specimen. He ran as fast as he could, took an admirable leap, but traveled only a few feet. He met a swift death in the super-heated lava.
The other explorer was a much younger man in excellent physical condition. He put all his energy into his run, jumped with flawless form and went farther than ever before.
Unfortunately, he landed far short of the clearing. Though the younger man clearly out-performed his companion, both wound up equally dead. Survival was so far out of reach, so ability became a non-issue.
Degrees of “goodness” may be important when hiring an employee or choosing neighbors. But when the issue is sin, the only standard that matters is God’s perfect holiness. The question isn’t how you measure up against the guy down the street, but how you measure up to God.
God’s standard is perfect righteousness and it is a standard that even the best behaved or most morally upright person still cannot reach.
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