race in himself, so that the whole human race sinned “in him.” All the sin in the world was therefore included in Adam’s sin when he sinned. There is not a human on earth who has not come from Adam, with his sinful nature. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (verse 23). But the Good News comes in the next half of the same sentence: and “[all are] being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (verse 24). Thank God! The second half of that sentence more than cancels the first half. How?
The word “justified” means to be straightened out, put right, or vindicated. (Remember, only sinners need to be straightened out!) Please look carefully, because all this was done before we ourselves could possibly do anything good. He justified us, put us straight, redeemed us, saved us as the human race, without any contribution from ourselves. It’s wrong to say or think that our faith saves us. Faith is not our Savior. “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). That agrees with what we just read in Romans 3:24, we were saved before we had faith, but our faith is what grabs hold of that blessed fact and makes it real in our own personal experience. This Good News is clear in Romans 3:23, 24:
“All” are “justified.” That means the entire human race. This truth is the cure for depression, despair, low self-respect. Believe it, and henceforth you cannot help but hold your head high anytime, anywhere. But how does this change come about?
These “all” are justified “freely.” No admission ticket required. Anything “free” is for everybody, no exceptions. No one can say, “This isn’t for me” (unless of course you are from Mars or you haven’t sinned preposterous assumptions). Stop wasting precious spiritual energy worrying about whether God has accepted you. Come into His presence like the prince or princess that you are in His sight. You’ve already been adopted into His family “in Christ”!
Someone says, “How can that be? I’m not a real Christian and never have been!” The answer is that the entire human race was in Christ as the second Adam just as it was in the first Adam. Therefore you were included. When Christ was baptized, the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). He was talking about us all, for He counted us “in Him.” A writer who understood says that word “embraces humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our representative.”
The “all” are justified “by His grace.” Note that the word “faith” is not there. Your faith or your lack of faith had nothing to do with Christ giving His life for you, justifying you by His sacrifice. And remember that “grace” is not meant for good people but for those who don’t deserve it. “To him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:4, 5). This accomplishment redeems everyone “in Christ Jesus.”
“Wait a minute! All this is given free to bad people?” Yes, the Bible says, “all.” If “your Father in heaven makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), it must include bad people. That has to be the meaning