Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  This is a continuation of Paul's discussion as to why there is no difference between the Jew and Gentile and why the Law could not save us.  All have sinned.  The degree of sin may vary, but God did not say that the wages for some sins is death, but that the wages of any sin is death.  We earn death by our sins.  God does not just arbitrarily impose death for sin on some while forgiving others. Verse twenty-four adds, Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  There is only one way to restore our relationship to God, and that is through the redemption of Christ. We are justified freely by God's grace.  Again, we cannot earn salvation but can only accept the free gift of grace from God.  Verse twenty-five continues, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; God sent Jesus as be a propitiation for all sins, past, present and future.  Christ paid the price for those who had gone before Him, those who were there with Him, and those of us who have come since.  Verse twenty-six states, To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.  God declared His righteousness through Jesus Christ, Who is the only One Who can justify us.  There is a penalty for any and all sin, and that is death.  We can choose to accept the free gift of redemption through faith in Christ as our Savoir, or we can choose to take the penalty on ourselves.  God always gives us the choice. Verse twenty-seven adds, Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.  We cannot boast of our salvation because it is a gift of grace.  We did nothing to earn it by our own goodness, by our birth into a particular family, or by God's Law.  Though we are to boldly proclaim salvation through Christ to the world, the emphasis must always be on Christ and never on us. Our only claim can be that we are sinners saved by grace.