Village Schools of the Bible

ROMANS: Heart & Soul of the Gospel
A Devotional Study of Romans
by Max Frazier, Jr.

ROMANS 3:21-31 - Salvation: The Divine Method of Justification

Those words "but now" that greet us in verse 21, form the transition from a dark, gloomy picture just prior (you might remember that because of our sinful heritage we had little hope of pleasing God), to something wonderful that God does for us, namely saves us. The key words in this section are righteousness (used in verses 21,22,25,26) and justify (used in verses 24, 26, 28, 30).

VERSES 21-22a: Righteousness Provided

1. The righteousness is of God - "righteousness of God"

a. From God's side, it must be regarded as an absolute expression; it is His attribute of righteousness

b. From Christ's side, it is His being received by God into glory according to God's estimation of His work as mediator

Christ's prayer -

John 16:10 - He went to His Father John 17:5 - the Father glorified Him because He died

God's answer -

Romans 6:4 - raised from the dead through the glory 1 Timothy 3:16 - received up into glory

Christ set forth publicly the righteousness of God:

1) as the slain Lamb, He shows the holiness of God
and
2) Christ dead, risen, glorified is the very righteousness of God

c. From the believer's side, the saints are said to bethe righteousness of God in Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:21)

2. Righteousness without the Law

"without" - absolutely apart from (Hebrews 4:15)

The Law has nothing to do with this righteousness

3. This Righteousness is witnessed to by the Law

a. The whole sacrificial system bore witness to the righteousness of God in Christ. By faith the man looked forward to the cross

b. The prophets: Jeremiah 23:6 - he shall be called, Yahweh our righteousness

Psalm 71:2, 15, 16, 19, 24 - Isaiah 53:6, 11 - Zechariah 13:7

4. This Righteousness of God is manifested or demonstrated

It is the perfect tense of the verb that refers to something that was done in the past, the effects of which abide right up to the present. The cross is eternal in the sense that its effects last forever.

5. Righteousness that is by faith in Jesus Christ

The righteousness of God will NOT come to the one who has faith in God. Need faith in Jesus Christ, the appointed way (see John 14:6)

6. This Righteousness is unto all - it is available to all men everywhere

7. A Righteousness upon all that believe - this is the condition of "unto all."

God's righteousness is for all men, if they want it, but it only comes to rest upon those who believe in Jesus Christ.

VERSES 22b-23: Righteousness Needed

This is a parenthetical interjection by Paul because he cannot let the people forget that they NEED God's righteousness for three reasons:

1. There is no difference - there is no difference as to the fact of sin. (see Romans 10:12 - if there is no difference when it comes to man's needs, thank God there is no difference in God's meeting that need)

2. All have sinned - the tense indicates something done in the past. It doesn't make any difference how many times a man sins, all God states is "all HAVE sinned."

3. All come short - we are continuously coming short of the glory of God as a result of sin. The middle voice tense used here points to the fact that the cause of man's condition is not from outside himself, but within him.

What is this glory that we fall short of?

John 1:14 - it is Christ's moral and spiritual glory because He was sinless 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 John 3:2 - we will have that same glory some day

VERSE 24: Righteousness Bestowed

1. Being justified It does not mean to make a man righteous. Justified is defined: to pronounce man righteous and treat him as such (Romans 3:4 - can man be made righteous? No, but he can be pronounced righteous) One writer said it this way: "Justification defined: sin is all past and gone, wiped out - not merely forgiven, not merely pardoned; it means clearing the slate and setting the sinner before God as a righteous man, as if he had never sinned, as if he were as righteous as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself"

2. Freely - this is how God justified (see John 15:25 - they hated me without a cause - same word as used here translated "freely") We are justified without a cause. There is no reason in the sinner that God should justify him. The cause is all in Christ. (see 2 Thessalonians 3:8 - neither did we eat any man's bread for nothing (without a cause)). It doesn't cost anything to be justified.

3. By His grace - this is how it was done. Grace - the unmerited, undeserved favor of God

4. Redemption - set free, to liberate by the paying of a price (see Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:15)

VERSES 25-31: Righteousness Declared

1. God set forth Christ to be a propitiation, defined as a reason for not executing punishment that is deserved (same word as for Old Testament "mercy seat") Propitiation is IN HIS BLOOD and not through faith in His blood. Propitiation cannot be had without blood, yet propitiation is not operative without faith.

2. Why did God make Christ a propitiation? to declare Hisrighteousness, not His love

3. Why did God's righteousness need to be declared? - for the remission of sins that are past. The sins of the Old Testament were never taken away until the cross of Christ (see Acts 17:30 - God winked at Old Testament sins; Psalm 50:16-23 - God kept silent about result man stated God was indifferent to sin). In order to clear His righteousness, God sent Christ as a propitiation.

4. There is no room for boasting when God faces man - verses 27-28 (see Revelation 5:9-14 - the boasting of heaven is in the Lamb of God)

5. Is He the God of the Jews only? (verses 29-30) - No, there is no other salvation than in this universal process

6. Do we void the Law through faith? (verse 31) - No, we establish it; Christ paid the penalty required by the Law

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS:

As we noted in our previous study, the issue of sin is a universal one. All men are plagued by it. Sin has touched the soul of every man, woman and child who has ever lived...save one, the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we observed that it was because of sin that our only standing before God was that of condemnation. All the Law did for us was to communicate that we were guilty. It did nothing to help us with the dilemma we were in. Therefore, the only hope for any reconciliation would have to fall upon God.

In this section, Paul begins to make his case that salvation - justification - is all of God. For, as hard as we might try to appease God, we were doomed to continually fall short of His glory. Some might presume to get closer to this glory through their efforts alone, but, in the end, all fail. To get close to God's glory is still to fall short of His glory.

Paul declares that God sent His Son to be the sufficient sacrifice to resolve the sin issue. When He died He dealt successfully with the sins committed in the past, those being committed in the present, and those to be committed in the future. Sins were not covered up, but were totally removed, even as the psalmist declared: as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (see Psalm 103:12). This sacrifice is to be appropriated in our lives as we accept by faith what Christ has done for us. It is not on the basis of obeying the Law.

So, there is now hope for sinful man. He need not struggle in his own strength to be reconciled to God. God has already paid the penalty He required. All a sinful man needs to do is to accept what God has done, to make it a part of our life. Then we can be assured of life eternal.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER AS YOU READ THIS SECTION:

1. What is the only way to receive God's righteousness? (read James 2:19). Does this mean the devils have received God's righteousness? How does a person "believe" in order to "receive?" (Note: how you answer this will have an impact upon how you witness for Christ).

2. Who is more lost: the man who has sinned just once or the man who has sinned many times? Who is more lost: the liar or the one who cheats on his wife? Who is more near heaven: the man with high moral standards or the thief?

Romans 3:9-20 Return to the Table of Contents Romans 4