“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3: 23)
Beloved, So far on our trip together we have looked at the holiness of God and His justice in judging sin. Today we need to switch gears and begin to look at who we are. There is an erroneous idea that all people are born basically good and that we learn to commit evil deeds. It is proposed that men perpetrate wickedness as a result of childhood abuse, social or environmental conditioning or in response to some sort of inappropriate model of behavior. Lately, this philosophy has become a bit more sophisticated by claiming that certain behaviors are encoded into our DNA and that people are born with these biases that are beyond their control to change. This representation of man is neither biblically based nor is it even accurate. It is only an attempt by men to justify themselves before a holy and perfect God. It is in fact the same “game” that has been played since Genesis 3: 12; blame someone else for your rebellion (sin) before God. The truth is that every last person who has ever been conceived by a human father and born into this world has rebelled against God and done what he wanted to do instead of obeying God. The apostle Paul is undeniably clear on this point, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This verse is not simply a cool intro to some evangelistic tract but rather an unambiguous indictment of all mankind. We all are guilty of treason toward God’s kingdom. It is claimed by some evangelism training that before you can save someone, you must first “get them lost.” While I understand the intent of this statement I think the way it is presented is in need of some very significant clarification. That is, the natural man who has not been regenerated by God’s Holy Spirit doesn’t at all need to “get lost;” He Is LOST and in complete rebellion before God. What he truly needs is not another excuse for his behavior but rather the truth that unless he repents and turns from his wickedness he will be condemned to a literal place of torment as a rightly deserved judgment for his sin and wickedness by a pure and holy God who is completely just in this pronouncement.
Word for the weak
Fall short, ὑστερέω (5302) [hustereo /hoos•ter•eh•o/] v. from a basic meaning come too late in time, come after in space; (1) active; (a) as coming too late through one’s own fault miss, fail to reach; be excluded; (b) as having a need be in need of, lack; (c) as falling short, behind someone else be less than, be inferior to; (d) as falling short of expectations lack, fail in, be wanting; (2) passive, with the genitive of the thing come short of, come behind in; absolutely go without, be in need.
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