Romans 3:21-31
“But now a righteousness from God,
apart from law, has been made known...” (NIV, 1984)
How can a person be right or
righteous without obeying the rules?
People who do not obey the rules
go to jail. Of course, since you and I are not in jail, we are obviously rule
keepers. We are okay. As a matter of fact, we are good people. We pay our
taxes, are faithful to our spouses, go to work every day and even go to church
on Sundays. Surely, we are better than those paying for their crimes by
spending time in jail. It would be unjust to lock you or me up since we have
not committed any crimes. In addition, it would be unjust to let a murderer or
a rapist off without consequences. Neither of these would be right.
So, how is it that God, who is
supposed to be just, can let people off without penalty who have sinned and
admit they have sinned?
First, to answer this question, we
must consider the nature of sin. Romans
1:18 through Romans 3:20 discusses the nature of sin. Sin is discussed in view
of the question, “How can a person be right with God.” The answer is “...no one
will be declared righteous by observing the law...” In other words, no one
keeps the rules so perfectly as to avoid the penalty. Romans 3:23 states quite
plainly:
We all have sinned, and God says
the penalty of sin is death. Romans 3:18
explains the problem of sin as being a basic problem in the heart when it says:
Therefore, rule keeping is not the
answer.
Isaiah 40:21-23 describes God by
saying:
Do you
not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have
you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above
the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches
out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who
brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. (Isaiah 40:21-23 ESV)
At the beginning of his ministry,
Isaiah had a vision of God. This is what he says about what he saw:
In the
year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the
seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he
covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his
glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him
who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me!
For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"
(Isaiah 6:1-5 ESV)
To sin is to offend this holy,
great God. It is not enough to say, "God is great." Words cannot
capture nor can our minds hold the splendor of His majesty. Psalms 145:3 tells us that no one can fathom
God’s greatness. He is too great for us
to truly understand.
How is it then that “There is no
fear of God before their eyes?”
Let’s consider this question for
just a moment.
In the Garden of Eden, when the
serpent tempted the woman he started by telling her she would become “like
God.” This desire to be “like God” still resides in the heart of men and women.
Pride is a heart problem that no one can be free from apart from Jesus Christ.
Our desire to be like God somehow blinds us to the greatness of God. How
ridiculous to imagine that we could ever be like God!
The statement "...by works of the law no
human being will be justified in his sight," is offensive to our pride.
(Romans 3:20 ESV) After all, we are good people.
Let’s consider the example of the
best people law could produce, the consummate rule keepers.
The Pharisees were experts in the Law
of Moses. Their purpose was to be justified by the law. Paul, a Pharisee, said
of himself, “as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:6 ESV) This was how the Pharisees viewed themselves,
blameless. In addition, they considered
themselves to be guides to the blind, (Romans 2:19) and instructors to the
foolish. (Romans 2:20) In other words, they were proud of the righteousness
they were able to gain through keeping the law.
However, as we said, the Scriptures make it clear, “by works of the law
no human being will be justified in his sight...”
In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus
confronts the hypocrisy of the Pharisees saying:
"'This
people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do
they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" (Matthew 15:8-9 ESV)
Jesus’ disciples warned him,
asking, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”
(Matthew 15:12 ESV) Part of Jesus’ response was:
They
are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another,
they will both fall into a ditch. (Matthew 15:14 NLT)
Jesus offended the Pharisees
because the Pharisees were proud. They were proud of the righteousness they
had, and in their pride, Jesus says they were blind. The rule keeping of the
Pharisees fed their pride, so they boasted in their righteousness. In
actuality, their pride made them blind.
In explaining how the gospel
works, the book of Romans strips away every means of righteousness by works and
says:
But now
God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the
requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the
prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus
Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (Romans 3:21-22 NLT)
Because of our pride and our
desire to be “like God,” this simple truth of being made right with God by
placing our faith in Jesus Christ is a stumbling block to many. This stumbling
block is explained in verse 27, which says:
Then
what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of
works? No, but by the law of faith. (Romans 3:27 ESV)
What is this “law of faith” that
excludes any boasting? It is covered in the preceding verses. These verses
clearly tell the heart of the gospel, and in so doing these verses show how God
can be both just and the justifier of those who have broken the rules. Romans
3:23-26 says:
...for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his
grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put
forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to
show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over
former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he
might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:23-26 ESV)
Several things stand out about the
law of faith as stated in these verses.
First, we are justified as a gift.
It is by grace. It is not anything that we have done. Boasting is excluded
because we are not justified by any works of righteousness that we have done. No
one is justified by the works of the law, no one.
Second, it is received by faith.
We must believe, and we must trust. That is all. There is no room for pride
because this righteousness does not depend on anything we do. Strangely enough,
we find there are those who are proud of their great faith. However, this only
shows that they do not understand. Our justification is entirely a work that
God has done. It shows His greatness not ours.
Third, the law of faith shows
God’s great love. In Romans 3:23-26, the Scriptures say that God put forward
Jesus Christ to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. In other words, Jesus
paid the price for our sins. This was not the appeasing of an angry deity but
rather the paying of the legal penalty for sin.
In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam, “In the day you eat thereof you
shall surely die.” The Bible consistently teaches that the legal penalty for
sin is death. Jesus paid that penalty.
Fourth, the law of faith shows
God’s justice. Romans 3:26 says, “...so
that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God
passed over a lot of injustice and wrongdoing before Jesus died on the cross,
and He continues to pass over sins of all kinds. God forgives my sins and your
sins because Jesus paid for those sins. It would be unjust for God to require
payment for sins that have already been paid for. This is why John 3:18 says:
Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18 ESV)
Not believing in Jesus means that
His payment of the penalty of sin is not applied to the unbeliever's account.
This is the law of faith that says we are justified freely by His grace through
faith in His blood.
There are two enemies of this law
of faith.
One enemy is the devil. He roams
about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. We have no fear of him. He is defeated. The
Bible tells us to be alert and ready but we are not ignorant of his schemes. By
guarding our hearts and minds with faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are safe.
The second enemy of this law of
faith is pride. Yes, believer, we can fall prey to the devil because of the
pride in our hearts, any one of us can. This is why the Apostle Paul says:
As for
me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Galatians 6:14 NLT)
We are going to study and learn
more about the law as we go through Romans, but so far, we have learned that
through the law we become conscious of sin and the law of faith upholds the law.
In admitting that we have not perfectly kept the law, we admit that the law is
holy and righteous and good, and we acknowledge that Jesus has satisfied the
righteous requirements of the law.
The grace by which God saves us
teaches us not to be proud but:
...to
be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every
good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to
show perfect courtesy toward all people. (Titus 3:1-2 ESV)
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