Why does Paul speak in the past tense with “all have sinned”?

Romans 3:23 (ESV)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

In short

Paul uses the simple past tense when he writes all have sinned because

he is referring to the fact that all humans sin; or
he is referring to the universal fallen character of man due to Adam’s sin.

Most likely, Paul has in mind a future moment that contains the collection of all human sins. That is, Paul is saying that from the future Judgment Day perspective, it will be the case that all have sinned. We can detect that this is likely his point because he has already explained that all people sin, as he drives home the point that both Jews and Gentiles need salvation (Romans 3:9). Further, we know that some Jews also taught that all sin, and we know some of Paul’s comments are aimed at the Jewish Christians in Rome who are aware of this. Thus, it makes sense that Paul would focus on the known Jewish teaching that all sin in order to make his greater point that both Jews and Gentiles need salvation.

Some contend that the reason Paul uses the simple past tense is that he has Adam’s sin in mind. That is, these believe that Paul is saying that all have sinned in the sense that all share in Adam’s past sin, which is why all fall short of the glory of God in the present. These point out that Paul will introduce the notion of Adam’s sin in Romans 5:12, when he says that sin entered the world through one man. Further, it helps make sense of the fact that Paul uses the past and present tense for the two verbs in Romans 3:23.

Still, there are problems with this view. First, Paul never says in Romans 5:12 that since sin entered the world through one man, all are guilty of Adam’s sin. Rather, in Romans 5:12 Paul says that sin entered through one man and all die because all have sinned. In other words, each of us is punished for sin because each of us is guilty of sin. Further, that Paul uses the past and present tense in Romans 3:31 can be explained without reference to Adam’s sin. Instead, Paul may be making two points. For one, all will be found to be sinners, and second, all in the present fall short of God’s glory.

In the end, it seems clear that the reason Paul uses the simple past tense in Romans 3:23 is that he has a future moment in mind when it will be apparent that all have sinned.

Interpretation 1:
Paul is referring to the fact that all humans sin.

Summary:

Paul explains that all humans have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What he imagines here is the sin of all humanity gathered into a single whole. Doing this shows that every human falls short of God’s glory, because eventually it will be true that every human has sinned.

To sin is to ignore God’s will and promote one’s own interest over God’s. It is important to recognize that every human is sinful, lest we exclude ourselves from being guilty of sin. For unless we recognize we are sinful, we will have no chance to repent and be saved.

Advocates:

Richard Longenecker
John MacArthur
Douglas Moo
Leon Morris
Thomas Schreiner
Frank Thielman

Minor differences:

Our authors agree that Paul has in mind the fact that every human sins.

Most of our authors overlook the aorist (simple past) tense and simply point out that Paul is saying all humans sin. For example, Frank Thielman points out that Paul has already explained the universal sinfulness of humanity in Romans 1:18–3:20, and Paul reiterates this point here.¹

For Richard Longenecker, on the other hand, given that the aorist can be used to denote something in the past, Paul’s use of the aorist could indicate one of two things. Either Paul has in mind that all share in Adam’s sin, so all have sinned because of Adam. Or he has in mind the collective whole of all human sin, considered from a future vantage point, where it is apparent that all have sinned. Longenecker opts for the second option, suggesting that to read Adam’s sin into Romans 3:23 is to import something into the text that is not there.²

Arguments

Explanation:

When Paul says that all have sinned, we can detect that his main point is that each individual human sins because this was commonly taught in Judaism. ⁶ For example, in the first-century Jewish writing of 4 Ezra, the author writes, For who among the living is there who has not sinned, or who among men who has not transgressed your covenant? (4 Ezra 7:46). Likely, Paul has this same sentiment in mind when he reminds his partially Jewish Christian audience that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. In other words, Paul is saying that each individual sins.

Counterargument:

That Jewish writers contemporary with Paul held that all people sin does not imply that Paul has in mind the fact that each individual sins. Paul is not trying to align with the Jewish teachers of his day, which we can detect from the fact that he teaches things contrary to Judaism. In particular, he teaches that no one will be justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:20–22). Given that Paul teaches what is contrary to Judaism, we have no reason to expect his teachings to align with what the Jews teach. Thus, we should not try to interpret Paul based on the teachings of Judaism.

Response to counterargument:

It is hasty to say that we should not try to interpret Paul in light of the Judaism of his day. For we know that Paul’s audience in Rome includes both Jewish and Gentile Christians. This is why Paul is at pains to show that the Gentiles are included in the gospel through faith in Jesus Christ. So the Jewish Christians are an important audience for Paul’s letter. Further, we know that Paul relies on Jewish theology to show that both Jews and Gentiles are sinners, before he quotes a number of passages from the Old Testament to demonstrate this (Romans 3:10–19). By doing this, Paul uses the material familiar to the Jews to show the Jewish Christians the truth of the gospel. Likely, Paul does something similar in Romans 3:23 when he says that all have sinned. That is, he knows that his audience is familiar with Jewish theology, and that Jewish theology taught that all have sinned. Paul uses this Jewish teaching in the context of Romans 3:23 to show that salvation is not through works but through faith in Jesus Christ.

Possible weaknesses

Interpretation 2:
Paul is referring to the universal fallen character of man due to Adam’s sin.

Summary:

When Adam sinned he plunged humanity into a fallen state. Thus, given Adam’s sin, all have sinned.

Advocates:

James Dunn
Leon Morris

Minor differences:

Neither of our authors clearly states that Paul is saying all share in Adam’s sin. Still, both authors note a connection with Adam, which is why we group them together.

For James Dunn, given that Paul uses the aorist tense, he either has in mind the perspective of the final judgment, when it will be clear that all have sinned, or he is referring to universal human fallenness due to Adam’s sin.⁷ While Dunn does not choose between these, he seems to leave open the notion that Paul has in mind human fallenness due to Adam.

Leon Morris, on the other hand, suggests that sin cut off people from God’s glory, and sin cut off Adam’s descendants.⁸ Now, Morris does not specify whether sin still cuts people from God’s glory because Adam sinned, or because we continue to sin. Still, his view could mean that because of Adam’s sin, people are cut off still, so we group him with interpretation 2.

Arguments

Interpretation 1:Paul is referring to the fact that all humans sin.

Interpretation 2:Paul is referring to the universal fallen character of man due to Adam’s sin.

Interpretation 1:
Paul is referring to the fact that all humans sin.

Interpretation 2:
Paul is referring to the universal fallen character of man due to Adam’s sin.