Romans 3: All Have Sinned and Fall Short of the Glory of God
I was in the garage last week, fitting a mortise and tenon joint for a table leg. The mortise was cut first, then the tenon. I shaved the tenon down, test fit it, shaved a little more, test fit again. It went in about halfway and stopped, so I shaved more. It went in three quarters and stopped again. I kept going until the joint seated all the way.
Then I pulled it apart and saw the gap.
It was small. Maybe a thirty-second of an inch on one side. Not visible from across the room. But it was there, and the joint would never be as strong as it should be. I had cut the mortise slightly off square, and no amount of shaving the tenon was going to fix it.
I stood there looking at the gap and thought about Romans 3.
Meaning of Romans 3:23 for LDS Readers
Paul gets to the point in verse 23. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. That is the diagnosis. Every person, regardless of how carefully they have lived, falls short. The gap between where we are and where God is cannot be closed by effort alone, a theme Paul also develops in Romans 1.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
I have read that verse dozens of times. But it hit different this time, standing in the garage with a joint that was almost right but not right enough. Almost right is still wrong in joinery. The same is true here.
The word Paul uses for come short is the same word used for falling behind in a race or lacking what is required. It is not about being bad. It is about being insufficient. The standard is the glory of God, and none of us reach it on our own.
Do Works Matter If We Are Justified by Faith in Romans 3
This is where people get nervous. Paul says a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. That sounds like works do not matter at all. But Paul is not saying that. He is saying works cannot earn what only grace can give.
Think of it this way. A level does not make a board straight, but it tells you the board is crooked. The law is the same. It reveals the problem but does not fix it. The fixing comes from something else.
Paul says we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Freely, not earned, not achieved, but received.
That does not mean we stop working. It means we stop pretending our work is what saves us. The work becomes a response, not a payment.
How to Understand Romans 3 from an LDS Perspective
I grew up hearing about grace and works in the same sentence. They belong together, but the order matters. Grace comes first, and the Atonement makes repentance possible. The works are the evidence that we have accepted the gift, not the price we pay for it.
Paul is not arguing against good works. He is arguing against the idea that good works put God in our debt. They do not. The debt was already paid.
The phrase fall short of the glory of God has another layer for LDS readers. Glory is not just a status. It is a state of being. To dwell in God's presence requires a purity that we cannot produce. We need someone who can close the gap.
Why Is the Law Unable to Save in Romans 3
Paul spends the first part of the chapter building a case. He quotes the Psalms. He lists the ways people go wrong. His point is not that everyone is as bad as they could be. His point is that everyone falls short of the standard, and the law cannot fix that.
The law is a mirror. A mirror shows you that your face is dirty but does not wash your face. The law shows you the sin but does not remove it.
That is why Paul says the law was given so that every mouth may be stopped. There is no room for arguing. No one can say, I kept the law well enough. The law was never meant to save. It was meant to show the need for a Savior.
Difference Between Justification and Sanctification in LDS Theology
Justification is the legal declaration. You are declared righteous because of Christ's Atonement. Sanctification is the process of becoming righteous over time. Paul focuses on justification in Romans 3. He is talking about the moment the debt is canceled.
Sanctification comes after. It is the slow work of the Spirit, changing us day by day. The two are connected but not the same. Justification is the door and sanctification is the walk through the house.
I think about that when I am working on a piece of furniture. The joinery has to be right for the piece to hold together. That is the foundation. But the finish work takes time, the sanding, the oil, the wax. Both matter, but the joinery comes first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Romans 3 mean that good works are useless for salvation?
Not exactly. Paul is arguing that works cannot earn salvation or justify a person before God. Works are the fruit of a living faith and the result of the Atonement, but they are not the source of the justification itself.
What does it mean to fall short of the glory of God?
It means that human beings in their fallen state cannot achieve the level of purity required to dwell in God's presence through their own efforts. There is a standard of perfection that only Christ can satisfy.
What is the relationship between the law and faith in Romans 3?
The law acts as a diagnostic tool that reveals sin and the need for a Savior. Faith is the act of trusting in Jesus Christ's Atonement to provide the righteousness that the law reveals we lack.
How do Latter-day Saints reconcile grace and works in Romans 3?
Grace comes first. The Atonement makes repentance and good works possible. Works are the evidence of faith, not the purchase price of salvation. Paul is arguing against earning salvation, not against living it.
What does justified freely mean in Romans 3:24?
It means the declaration of righteousness is a gift. It is not earned or deserved. It is received through faith in Jesus Christ. The word freely carries the sense of without cause or without payment.
I put the joint back together. The gap was still there, but I knew what to do. I cut a thin shim from a scrap of walnut, tapped it into the gap, and trimmed it flush. The joint was solid after that. Not because I shaved the tenon enough. Because something filled the space my work could not.
-- D.