ROMANS UNWRAPPED 47

                                                        THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE!


  "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference."    Romans 3 v 22

For ease of understanding we will refer to God's righteousness as "God's faith system" as opposed to "a human works system".   the faith system is said to be "unto all and upon all them that believe

UNTO ALL    -   eis    means towards all, offered to all.
UPON ALL    -   epi    means resting on all, actually on all.

Unto all refers to potential, upon all refers to actual.   This is one of the most important statements of the gospel.   The word "all" in this context means "all without exception."   The next verse makes this clear when it says "all have sinned",    All have sinned without exception, all are offered salvation without exception, and is effectual only on those who believe, on those who accept God's faith system.

There seems to be some difference of opinion here concerning the wording of the original text, but it matters not because the pattern here presented by the A.V. is supported by the weight of scripture.   There is nothing clearer in the Bible than that God's salvation in Jesus Christ is offered to all.  

Romans 10 v 12   "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord is rich unto all that call upon Him, for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
John 3 v 16    "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
1st John 2v2    "And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
There are hundreds more of such references but we will finish with the last words of Jesus to this world from the throne "whosoever will. let him take of the water of life freely."    Revelation 22v17

Let there be no doubt in our minds, that what this Bible is saying is that God's salvation is being offered to all, but since He made us all with the ability to choose, He gives us the right to accept or reject this offer, the consequences being made abundantly clear.   To put it in modern language God does not wish anyone to be in heaven who does not want to be there, and so He says with almost the last words of the Bible "whosoever will".  

God is no respecter of persons in any matter least of all in the matter of eternal salvation.   We do no pry into the divine counsels of eternity to try and explain things that are beyond us, we simply accept what is said, and in this case it is that the faith system has been offered to all.  

There is no difference; it matters not your nationality, your gender, your social standing, your political persuasion, your religious leanings, your family connections, your life history until now, God in Jesus Christ is offering salvation to everyone without exception.   There is not one sinner too bad who cannot be saved, there is not one sin which God cannot forgive.   This gospel puts us all on the same plain, treats us all at the same level, perhaps in our pride this is why we cannot accept it.     There is no difference all have sinned, there is no difference all can be saved.   That I believe is the force of these words.  

When this life draws to an end for all of us there will be an epitaph written across all Christ rejecters "the fearful and unbelieving ........shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."   Revelation 21 v 8.   God has offered the way of salvation, all you had to do was accept it, as we shall see later it would cost you nothing but your pride, and what pride can we have anyway in the presence of the God of glory. 

Tomorrow d.v. we have all come short of God's glory.