Who has sinned? I believe all of us know the phrase by heart: "For all have sinned." Why is it that all have sinned? It is because they "fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). If the Bible were to say that all have sinned because all have broken the Ten Commandments, there would be a difference between great sinners and small sinners, for some may have transgressed nine commandments, while others may have transgressed only one. If the Bible were to say that all have sinned because all have fallen short of society's customs or the law of the land, there would still be some who are good and some who are not so good. But strangely enough, the Bible says that all have sinned because all have fallen short of the glory of God. What then is the glory of God? If you want to understand what the glory of God is, you have to understand Romans 1 through 8. God's grace is linked to God's glory. Grace seeks out man on the lowest level, and glory brings man to the highest level. Romans 1 through 3 tells us how man has sinned. Then after giving the way of salvation by the Lord Jesus in chapters three through five, the crucifixion with Christ in chapters six and seven, and the work of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of chapter eight, Romans tells us the following at the end of chapter eight, "Whom He foreknew, He also predestinated...whom He predestinated, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified" (vv. 29-30). Salvation is God pulling a sinner from the mud of sin and taking him all the way to glory. Although we are justified, we know that justification is not enough. Justification is not the goal of God's salvation for us. God will not stop until we are in glory. Hence, Romans 1 through 8 begins with sins and ends with glory.

What does it mean to fall short of the glory of God? It means that one cannot enter into glory. All have sinned because they cannot enter into glory. If all have sinned because they have not honored their parents, you could find some "great" dishonoring ones, some "mild" dishonoring ones, and some "little" dishonoring ones. Perhaps for the 400 million Chinese, there are 400 million classes of dishonoring ones. But in falling short of the glory of God, that is, in failing to enter into glory, you and I are exactly the same. You may be a moralist, and I may be a criminal. As a criminal I cannot enter into glory, but neither can you as a moralist. Hence, before God all have fallen short of His glory, and no one is qualified to enter in.

You can go to the street and tell anyone that he has sinned. If he says that he has not sinned, you can ask if he thinks he can enter into glory. Of course, he will not know what glory is. If we are in God's light, and if we have a little knowledge of the Scripture, we will know that we are not qualified to enter in. None of us can enter in.