iii. St. Paul's Definition of Sin.
" All have sinned," says St. Paul, " and fall short of the glory of God." That seems to be his conception of sin. That is sin in its essence. And that includes all under sin, leaving no room what- ever for exculpation or escape. For what is it to fall short of the glory of God ?
1. The word " glory " (doxa) is used in the New Testament with two distinct meanings. It means (1) reputation, or (2) brightness, especially the brightness or splendour which radiates from the
1 A. Tholuck.
ROMANS in. 23, 24 269
presence of God. The second must be the meaning here. It is the majesty or goodness of God as manifested to men.
Tj The Eabbis held that Adam by the Fall lost six things, " the glory, life (immortality), his stature (which was above that of his descendants), the fruit of the field, the fruits of trees, and the light (by which the world was created, and which was withdrawn from it and reserved for the righteous in the world to come)." It is explained that " the glory " was a reflection from the Divine glory which before the Fall brightened Adam's face (Weber, Altsyn. Theol., p. 214). Clearly St. Paul conceives of this glory as in process of being recovered : the physical sense is also enriched by its extension to attributes that are moral and spiritual.1
2. What is to " fall short " of this glory ?
(1) The metaphor is taken from the racecourse. To "come short" is to be left behind in the race, not to reach the goal. And the goal is " the glory of God." We may take " the glory of God," then, in the first place, in the widest sense. To attain to " the glory of God " is (a) to enjoy His favour, (&) to be formed in His image, (c) to live in His presence. These three together cover all that the soul of man can desire. They are the sum total of happiness. There is nothing beyond. Adam had them all in Eden before his fall. He was made in the image of God, and he enjoyed the favour and the presence of God. Sin robbed him of them all. And as sinners we by nature come short of them all. " The carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God " (Eom. viii. 7, 8). Surely this is the opposite of God's favour ! Then, " They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh " (Eom. viii. 5). Eemember what the " works of the flesh " are, as St. Paul gives them in Gal. v. 19-21. Surely this is the opposite of the image of God ! And then, "Without God in the world" (Eph. ii. 12). Surely this is the opposite of God's presence !
(2) But, in the second place, we may take this definition of sin to mean that men have not lived for the glory of God. This goes deeper than acts ; it reaches the motive of human action. We, who can read only what speaks to the outward senses, very naturally think most of words and actions, because they are all of
1 Sanday and Headlam, Romans, 85.
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which we can be certainly cognizant. And, as naturally, that great Spirit who reads thoughts as easily as He reads words, will look equally, nay, more than equally, at the inward principles, at the springs more than at the acts of the machine of life — at the sources more than at the streams of every man's moral being. For here lies the difference — we generally think feelings important because they lead to conduct ; God lays stress upon conduct because it indicates feelings. So it will be at the last great account. All the deeds and sayings of a man will then stand forth in the light — each one in its clearness. But to what purpose ? That the man may be judged of those things ? Certainly not. But they are witnesses, called up to give evidence before men and angels, to a certain inward invisible state of the man, by which, and according to which, every one will receive his sentence and his eternal award. The real subject-matter of inquiry in that day will not be actions, nor words, but motives.
(3) And, in the third place, the expression, " Fall short of the glory of God," may mean — and probably in the Apostle's mind did mean — failure to reach the moral glory of God, the inexorable perfectness of His character, with which we must correspond in order to be at peace with Him.
\ Let us understand well the greatness of the Divine require- ment from man, for it is the measure of the Divine love. The love of God can be satisfied with nothing less than its own per- fection. It is to this that He seeks to bring us. Anything less than this, any coming short of His glory, is, in His sight, sin ; a missing of our true human aim ; a failure to reach the stature of the perfect man — to be complete in Christ Jesus, to be washed in His blood, to be clothed with His righteousness, to be filled with His spirit.1