"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

When I was a young boy lost in false religion, Romans 3:23 was my first memory verse. We have heard it many times quoted and referred to in the so-called “Romans road to salvation." Reading the verse over the years only confirmed what I already knew by my natural conscience, which God has given all men. The verse pointed out my guilt over and over. The work I put forth in trying to do better just kept getting harder and a heavier burden.

One evening God revealed to me WHO was the end of the Law. Not just to be the end of the Law period, but for the sake of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jesus Christ The Righteous was the end of the Law for me because He honored, kept, fulfilled and magnified the Law of God Almighty. He performed the glorious work of propitiation (satisfying the justice demanded of that Law), which resulted in reconciliation and justification for His people. He kept the Law they could not keep. He died the death they could not die.

I saw, through that gospel, my need fulfilled. That was something I could use and was desperate for. It was something that would last because it was complete and accomplished by the right Person. It became a work of value to me, the Pearl of Great Price, which was irresistible to me.

When we read Romans 3:23 we should see WHO the glory of God is. It is the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. He is the glory of God that we have fallen short of. He alone met God's perfect standard of holiness and righteousness. That is why we who are His people live by the rule of "God forbid that we should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14).