BACKGROUND:
Like the swelling waves of the tide, Paul’s argument rolls over the predicament of the human race. After each wave of the gospel, the waters recede to reveal a new aspect or depth of the problem of sin. This wavelike approach to Paul’s letter provides a number of views of the same issues, with slightly different emphases. Having stated such a strong case for our universal indictment under the law, Paul now turns to God’s gracious alternative plan.
The words but now present an important shift in subject. Whereas the law was God’s righteous standard, the righteousness required to live up to it was not within man’s capacity. God, the measure of righteousness, had to provide a means of righteousness—of being right in his sight. The gospel is not a recent creation by God to respond to human failure. It was promised in the Scriptures long ago. Whereas the law provided a measurement of the distance between God and his creatures, this righteousness from God has been provided in a different way. There is a way to be righteous before God. It is not by obeying the law, by being “Jewish”, yet it has always been in the Law and the Prophets, for they pointed to it.
The way to being made right in God’s sight is the way of faith in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. Trusting in Jesus Christ means putting our confidence in him 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. And this way is open to all who believe—both Jews and Gentiles.
Trusting in Jesus Christ is the only way we all can be saved. We all begin in the same place spiritually, and there is only one way. Faith in Jesus Christ doesn’t mean we understand everything that Christ has done for us, but it does mean that we believe he has done everything for us!
Paul has made it clear thus far in his letter that there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles when it comes to final judgment—all have sinned. If the law measures the distance between God and his creatures, then human righteousness is our attempt to bridge that distance by our own efforts. Paul is correct— we all fall short. But what is this glorious standard that we do not reach on our own? The word glory (doxes), from which we derive the word doxology, refers to the wonderful and awe-inspiring but indescribable presence of God himself. Sin keeps us from the presence of God.
Sinning confirms our status as sinners, and sin cuts us off from our holy God. Furthermore, sin leads to death (because it disqualifies us from living with God), regardless of how great or small each sin may seem. Sins are deadly, but sinners can be forgiven. There are no distinctions: we have all sinned; we all need a savior; Jesus Christ is the Savior; through faith we can receive his salvation.
Just as there is no distinction in our fallenness, Paul writes, so there is no distinction in the source of our justification. God justifies us; he declares us not guilty for our sins. When a judge in a court of law declares the defendant “not guilty,” all the charges are removed from the person’s 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. We do not have to anxiously work while hoping that in the end we will have been good enough to meet God’s approval. Instead, those who believe in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross are freed—Christ Jesus has taken away our sins. Our righteousness before God depends entirely on him and can only be accepted as a gift from him. God in his gracious kindness assures us of our acceptance and then calls us to serve him as best we can out of sheer love for him.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
Today is an explanation of what God has done for us. v. 21 "But now a righteousness from God apart from the Law has been made known to which the Law and the prophets testify." Anytime you see the word "but" you ought to stop and say, "What is it there for?" Anytime you see the word "but" it means "I'm going to give you a new thought."
Paul has been talking for three chapters, building a case logically step by step. We now come to a second major section of Romans. The first section is the section on sin. He points out everybody is guilty, no man is innocent, all have sinned so we all need to be saved. He's been building this case.
Now in 3:21 he says, "but now". Thank God for those two words. This is a major turning point in the book of Romans. Now he's going to talk about the second section of Romans -- Salvation, How do I get right with God?
In the past he's been building the case and it's been getting darker and darker. "But now" the light shines through. In this section he gives us some great gospel words. Most of the great doctrines of the Word of God revolve around a single word such as grace, atonement or faith. In order to understand the deeper meaning of scripture you must study the specific words that were used. Correct interpretation of Biblical truth depends on correct understanding of the words used to convey these truths. David declared "The words of the Lord are flawless like silver refined in the furnace of fire, purified seven times." Proverb writer stated similarly, "Every word of God is flawless."
Words are important and there are three words in this section tonight you cannot miss. They describe the three miracles that God does for you when you're saved. They are the words all in v. 24 from the amplified version of the Bible – listen… “All of us are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption and atonement which is provided by and found in Christ Jesus” Romans 3:24 (AMP) Let’ take a look at three key words…
1. Justification 2. Redemption. This is a slavery term used in the slave market. 3. Atonement.
These three key words all describe what God has done for us that we cannot do for ourselves. Now, in v. 21-26. Paul gives us a detailed explanation of our salvation. He says there are eight things about salvation. Every single phrase in these verses is important.
1. " A righteousness from God." The first thing we can say about salvation is that it was designed by God. Salvation was designed by God. Man didn't think it up. He didn't take the initiative. it wasn't his ingenuity. God thought up the whole plan of salvation we're going to look at.
2. Salvation is unearned. "A righteousness apart from the law". Up in v. 20 it says no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the Law. You don't get to heaven by works, by trying to earn it, by keeping the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount. You are not saved by earning it, by working for it. It's apart from the Law. In the Old Testament there are three kinds of law: moral law, civil law, ceremonial law. These three kinds of laws are talked about in the first five books of the Bible. Paul says none of these are going to get you to heaven. It is apart from the law. God has always saved people the same way. Look at Hebrews 11. Our natural tendency is to try to do things to get to heaven but it is apart from the law.
3. "It is righteousness apart from the law that has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify." Salvation is unhidden. It's not a secret. It's not something Paul thought up. It's not a new message. It has been around for a long time. this was not an innovation of Paul. People had been saved all throughout history. It's been made known and the law and the prophets testify. He's talking about the Old Testament.
1 Peter 1:10-11 Peter backs up what Paul says. This message about you don't earn your way to heaven had been taught throughout the Old Testament. "Concerning this salvation of the prophets who spoke of the grace (circle this. The Old testament talks about grace. The Bible says, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.") that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and the circumstances in which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the suffering of Christ and the glories that would follow."
He's saying the whole Bible teaches the same thing. You're saved by grace through faith. It's not something new that just happens in the New Testament. When you look at the sacrificial system it teaches that somebody was going to die for somebody else.
4. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ. When you look at this passage and look at how many times the word "faith" is used, you realize that the whole Christian life can be summed up in the word "faith". All of the other religions of the world have the idea do and the Christian life says believe, accept, have faith.
Sometimes I talk to Christians who, when they're asked if they're Christians say, "I'm trying." It's like being pregnant: You either you are or you aren't! It's not a matter of trying to be a Christian; it's a matter of trusting. It's by faith.
5. "... to all who believe." Salvation is available to everybody who believes. That's the one condition. It has a universal appeal: salvation is available to everybody, everybody needs it, everybody can have it. You just believe. It's not believe and work real hard. Example: Let's say you're going to take an elevator up to the twentieth floor of the building. You get on the elevator, go up three floors and then get off. Then you climb the stairs for three floors. Then you get back on the elevator and go up another three. Then you get off and climb the stairs ... Would that be silly? Sure. A lot of people try to get saved that way. Trust in Christ and then work real hard, trust for awhile, then work ... No! Once you get on the elevator you stay on and trust it to get you all the way to the top. That's the way it is being a Christian. When I became a Christian I laid my life in God's hands, "God, I don't understand it all but I'm laying my faith and trust in You." Salvation is available to all who believe. Believe means to put your confidence in.
6. v. 23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Salvation is necessary. It's necessary because we've all fallen short. The two verbs in this verse are in two different tenses. In the Greek language there are nine different tenses. It is the most technical and precise language ever known to man. That's why God chose it for the Bible. We have past, present and future. They have nine different tenses to be very technical in the exact meaning.
The two different tenses in the verbs, the first one says, "All have sinned". That is in what's called the aorist tense. It simply means past, done for, once for all situation. "All have sinned." That's an established fact. But then it says, "and fall short". This is in the present tense which means continual, ongoing, continually falling short. It's a continuous action and it doesn't quit!
Both of these words, in the Greek, are used for athletics. The word used in "all have sinned" is an archery term. When you shot an arrow and missed the bulls eye and your arrow fell short, you'd say "It sinned!" The arrow fell short, it missed the mark. That's what the verse is saying, "All have missed the mark of God's standard."
Then the word that says, "all have fallen short" is an athletic term that literally means to fall behind in a race. The Bible says all of us have done that.
That's what God says, we all fall short. To be good enough to get to God you'd have to be perfect. And nobody's perfect. All fall short. Sure, some make it further than others. There is no doubt there are people in this world that are better than I am morally. But thank God I'm not trying to get there on my own effort. Because all fall short. I don't live up to my own standard much less God's. I disappoint myself, much less disappointing God. The Bible says, all have sinned. Our salvation is necessary.
What is "the glory of God"? Different scholars have different opinions on this. I agree with those who say that the glory of God is referring to the way God made man intentionally to be. He's talking about God's ideal. When God made man in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve brought glory to God because they were perfect, they had a perfect relationship. But they blew it! They sinned and fell short and the glory was lost.
"all fall short of God's glory" means we all fall short of God's ideal. We all fall short of the potential that God has put into each of our lives. We sin and we loose that potential.
7. Salvation is undeserved. Now we're getting down to the meat of the passage. v. 24 is one of the most significant verses in the entire Bible. "... and are justified freely by His grace..." Our salvation is undeserved. We get it freely by God's grace. The word "freely" literally means without a cause. This word freely is only used one other time in the New Testament. John 15:25 Jesus is speaking about how the world did not come to Christ but they hated Christ and He was being rejected. The disciples were bothered by this and Jesus said if the world hates Him it will hate His disciples. "But this is to fulfill what is written in their law, they hated me without reason." Other translations: "without a cause." That is the same word that is used in Romans that means "freely."
What does it mean when God justifies us freely? It means "without a cause". You didn't do anything to earn it. It was unmerited, undeserved.
We see this over in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 7:6. Why did God choose the Jews? Of all the nations He could have chosen why did He choose the Jews? This verse says God chose them because! That's the reason! "You are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord God has chosen you out of all of the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession." Do you get a reason for it in there? No! He choose. BECAUSE! v. 7 "The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you are more numerous than other people..." The Israelites are a small nation. "... But it was because the Lord loved you." Why? Just because! Why did He love them? Did they deserve that He love them? It was without a cause.
This passage today is so very foundational to your faith. Let the truth of this passage sink into your life. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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