But now the righteousness of God apart from the law
is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the
righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who
believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, (Romans 3:21-23)
In these verses we see two functions of God's
law. First, it shows us where we go
wrong. Because of the law, we know that
we are helpless sinners and that we must come to Jesus Christ for mercy. Second, the moral code revealed in the law
can serve to guide our actions by holding up God's moral standards. We do not earn salvation by keeping the law
(no one except Christ ever kept or could keep God's law perfectly), but we do
please God when our lives conform to His revealed will for us.
After all this bad news about our sinfulness and
God's condemnation, Paul gives the wonderful news. There is a way to be declared not guilty - by
trusting Jesus Christ to take away our sins.
Trusting means putting our confidence in Christ to forgive our sins, to
make us right with God, and to empower us to live the way He taught us. God's solution is available to all of us
regardless of our background or past behavior.
In this context the righteousness of God is not an attribute of God, but
an act of God whereby He declares a sinner righteous. This is righteousness
from God.
Some sins seem bigger than others because their
obvious consequences are much more serious.
Murder, for example, seems to us to be worse than hatred, and adultery
seems worse than lust. But this does not
mean that because we do lesser sins we deserve eternal life. All sin makes us sinners, and all sin cuts us
off from our holy God. All sin,
therefore, leads to death (because it disqualifies us from living with God),
regardless of how great or small it seems.
Don't minimize "little" sins or overrate "big"
sins. They all separate us from God, but
they all can be forgiven.
God revealed to people how they should live, but no
one can live up to God’s perfect way. We have all sinned and no one can live up to
what God created us to be; we all fall short of His glory. We cannot save
ourselves because as sinners we can never meet God’s requirements. Our only
hope is faith in Jesus Christ.
being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Romans3:24)
Those who believe (Romans 3:22) are justified, that
is, “declared righteous,” freely, without cost, by God’s grace, or “favor.”
Christ Jesus died to provide redemption, which means He died to pay the price
required to ransom sinners. By paying the penalty of their sin through His
death, Jesus can free people from their sin and transfer His righteousness to
those who believe in Him. On the basis of Christ’s righteousness alone,
believers can approach God’s throne with praise. Through God’s initiative, they
have been restored to a proper relationship with Him.
Justified means to be declared not guilty. When a judge in a court of law declares the
defendant not guilty, all the charges are removed from his record. Legally, it is as if the person had never
been accused. When God forgives our
sins, our record is wiped clean. From
His perspective, it is as though we had never sinned.
Redemption refers to Christ setting sinners free
from slavery to sin. In Old Testament
times, a person's debts could result in his being sold as a slave. The next of kin could redeem him - buy his
freedom. Christ purchased our freedom
and the price was His life.
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood,
through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God
had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the
present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the
one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans3:25-26)
By His death, Christ satisfied the justice of God.
He paid the penalty of sin in full. Paul cites two reasons why the
righteousness of God comes through Christ’s death. The first is to demonstrate
that God Himself is righteous, and did not judge the sins committed prior to
the Cross. The second reason for the Cross is that God wanted to show that He
is both righteous and at the same time the One who can declare sinners
righteous. Because of Christ’s death, God does not compromise His holiness when
He forgives a sinner.
Word Focus: propitiation - (Gk. hilasterion) (Rom. 3:25;
Heb. 9:5) G2435: This term is derived from the Greek verb hilaskomai, a word
which has three meanings: (1) “to placate” or “to appease”; (2) “to be
propitious and merciful”; or (3) “to make propitiation for someone.” The New
Testament never describes people appeasing God. Instead, as Luke 18:13 and 1
John 2:2 make clear, the New Testament describes God as being merciful to, or
making propitiation, for us. God provides a merciful expiation, or atonement,
of the sins of believers through the death of Christ. But since Paul also
speaks of God’s wrath, it must also speak of the conciliation of God’s anger by
means of a sacrifice—namely, the sacrifice of His Son. John states that God
demonstrated His love to us by sending His Son to become “the propitiation for
our sins” (1 John 4:10). Just as in the Old Testament God met His people when
the blood of the sin offering was sprinkled on the altar, so Christ’s death
brings us into fellowship with God.
Christ
is our sacrifice of atonement. In other
words, He died in our place, for our sins.
God is justifiably angry at sinners.
They have rebelled against Him and cut themselves off from His
life-giving power. But God declares
Christ's death to be the appropriate, designated sacrifice for our sin. Christ then stands in our place, having paid
the penalty of death for our sin, and He completely satisfies God's
demands. His sacrifice brings pardon,
deliverance, and freedom.
What
happened to people who lived before Christ came and died for sin? If God condemned them, was He being
unfair? If He saved them, was Christ's
sacrifice unnecessary? Paul shows that
God forgave all human sin at the cross of Jesus. Old Testament believers looked forward in
faith to Christ's coming and were saved, even though they did not know Jesus'
name or the details of His earthly life.
Unlike the Old Testament believers, you know about the God who loved the
world so much that He gave His own Son (John 3:16). Have you put your trust in Him?
References:
NKJV Holy Bible, Life Application Bible (NIV), the Nelson Study Bible.
8 comments:
Thanks, Lloyd. And thanks be to God, who won't let us live our mistakes over, but who will allow us to begin anew at the Cross...
Great Post Lloyd.
It is not unjust for God to forgive us, because the penalty for sin has been paid by Christ. He could declare me not guilty without sacrificing his integrity. Thank God for doing so.
I wasn't here by long time (I don't know why), but this post gave me to thinking. Am I righteous before God? I trust only His grace - my works aren't ideal and I must still learn many things...
Blessings for You.
When I pause long enough to consider what the cross meant to God, and what God freely did to save me, I am ashamed and grateful. God's love is a wonderful reality. Now we ought to love one another as He loved; if the church at last did so what a sight that would be!
A good post.
Brother, thank you so much for your kind comments on my blog. I hope and pray you and your wife are doing well. By God's grace, we may not be here too much longer!
Sorry that it's taken me so long to respond to you. Your comment was right around the time my family and I moved and the LORD brought me to a new place of ministry. I appreciate your feedback on my blog, and I love the work and set up of yours! Keep up the good work! "Soon and very soon, we're going to see the King..."
hello, peace of Christ! His blog is a blessing. I would like to visit my tbm: http://cantinho-cristao.blogspot.com/, and if you like follow me!'m Brazil.
God bless
Lloyd, This is really inspirational, please keep it up preaching good news on this blog. I am really impressed with the decoration of the background of you blog.
Grace & Peace
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