All Have Sinned
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:18 · Berean Standard Bible
The deepest problem: people don't fear God anymore. We've lost the awe and reverence that keeps us aligned with our Creator.
Paul finishes his catalog of human corruption with the root issue: we've lost God-consciousness. Without fear of God—which in Scripture means reverential awe, not terror—people do whatever they want.
Paul, quoting the Psalms
Fear of the Lord isn't about being scared; it's about recognizing that God matters most. When we lose that orientation, everything else collapses. That's Paul's diagnosis of why verse 9 is true: we're all under sin.
They do not live with any reverent fear of God before their eyes.
The final citation, from Psalm 36:1, identifies the root of all the preceding pathologies: the absence of *yir'at YHWH* (fear of God), which throughout the Wisdom tradition (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes) is the beginning of all understanding and the foundation of ethical life. The phrase 'before their eyes' (Greek: enṓpion autōn) suggests this is not hidden or obscure but evident—they deliberately refuse to live coram Deo, 'before God's face.' Origen saw in this the collapse of proper vertical orientation toward the divine.
Paul, citing the Psalms
This echoes Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve, having eaten from the tree, hid from God's presence rather than maintaining the reverential obedience that characterized pre-fall existence. The entire catena thus returns to the primordial rupture that corrupted all subsequent human relationships.
16ruin and misery lie in their wake,
17and the way of peace they have not known.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
20Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.
Read all of Romans 3 — The courtroom falls silent. Every mouth is stopped. Then Paul introduces a righteousness that comes not from the law but through faith.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad