Romans 3:25-26

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. 26It 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

I recently spied on someone’s fridge a magnet which said, “I keep forgetting: It’s not about me – it’s about Him”. It was a great Christian magnet, and a very true statement, both in the fact that we always forget the truth, and that the truth is so simple at the end of the day. It’s humbling, but creation, and redemption and salvation – it’s not about you, it’s about Him. We keep needing to be put in our place, so that we make sure God is put in His right place (of being God!). Failure to do so is, sadly, the foundation of sin – and the bane of my existence (and endless sinfulness).

And so we come to these verses in Romans. The last verses we looked at were amazing weren’t they? They were gospel 101, and we can see the end of that brilliant passage at the start of v25 (which starts mid sentence). After such a beautiful gospel presentation, showing all that God has done for us, Paul naturally comes to the ‘why’ question. Why did God do so much for sinful humanity? Why did he send Jesus to be our redeemer, and to be a propitiation of wrath? Why did he design the plan to be received by faith alone? Surely Paul would write (like we probably would), that God did all this for us out of great love – out of great mercy and grace. Such a statement is mostly true, but misses the point. It’s just stating the obvious.

Of course God did do all this with great love and mercy and grace (how else could it be done?), but for what end? Our salvation? That would imply that we are the focus of the greatest plan in existence, which is just plain ridiculous – “I keep forgetting: It’s not about me – it’s about Him”. Paul obviously invented this magnet in 55 A.D, because he knew the real, and ultimate reason why God did all he did for sinful humanity. v25, “This was to show God’s righteousness“.

What? Wasn’t it to save sinful humanity from their impending destruction out of his great love for them? Of course that’s true. But that’s one step from the real goal of God’s plan. He saved us from destruction out of his great love, so that, he might be seen as righteous. God’s plan is incredibly God-centered. He wants to be the centre of attention. He wants to show the universe that he is a righteous God. Doesn’t that get a little bit on your nerves? The reason it worries us is because that’s exactly what we want – the difference being that God deserves every bit of it, and we were designed to behold and worship him – not be jealous (which is the heart of sin).

Paul explains how Jesus’ redemptive and saving work displays God’s righteousness in v25-26. In doing so, he answers a question that plagues countless Christians, namely, “How could Old Testament people be saved without Jesus’ death on their behalf?” Or, “If Old Testament people were saved, wouldn’t God have to have looked over their sins, and unjustly and unrighteously declared them innocent (when they weren’t)?” That second objection is the one that Paul really addresses here. God displays on the cross that he is in fact righteous. Because, in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. He patiently forbore and overlooked the sins his OT people of faith (his true Israel, the true children of Abraham – to be explained further in chapter 4), because he knew their sins would indeed be punished in Jesus on the cross. So he displays his righteousness through Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross, for those who sinned before he came, yet were people of faith not law (like Abraham).

But not only does the cross demonstrate God’s righteousness in justifying his people of faith who came before Jesus, but also his righteousness right now in justifying us. How can it be just that God would acquit, and declare innocent, rapists and serial killers – simply because they have faith in Jesus? (Notice how I tried to make the question a real problem for us?) Surely God would be unrighteous, unfair and unbelievably unjust. But no – the cross declares the righteousness of God in doing such a thing. But moving on from rapists and serial killers – isn’t it a mistrial that you are justified simply by faith? I mean what’s the difference in God’s eyes? How on earth could a righteous judge let you just romp straight into heaven based on nothing but faith?

That’s what’s so amazing about the cross. It demonstrates and makes clear to all that God is just, and righteous. It does also show that he is incredibly loving and gracious – but there are bigger plans in mind than just our salvation. Jesus Christ really did soak up the full measure of the punishment that we deserved – that rapists and serial killers deserve – and even more amazing – that all your sin deserved. Therefore, God, the righteous judge could demonstrate his grace to us and save us, not by works of the law, but by faith – he is righteous.

Worship him,

Matt.

Romans 3:21-25

²¹But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

Today we reach the first mountain top in Romans – we’ve been climbing for a few months, but we’re here – and the view from up here is simply glorious. Here’s the good news – the very righteousness, holiness and perfection of God himself is being offered apart from the law – as we beheld last time; the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Salvation, right relationship with God – all through faith, not law. That means sinners have hope. That’s what we’ve been looking for, that’s what we’ve desperately needed – and now it’s come, through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

But believe what, exactly? What is it about Jesus Christ that we are putting our faith, trust and hope in? We haven’t actually heard of Jesus since verse 8 of chapter 1 – and that was a passing comment. Before that, we have only brief allusions in the introductory verses about this Jesus character. We really don’t know a great deal about what exactly this Jesus fellow has done that allows this good news to come to us by nothing but faith. We need details. And that’s exactly what Paul now gives us – the clearest, yet most compact’ theology lesson on what Jesus has done. This is gospel class 101. If you’re not sure what the gospel is all about, then I pray it all becomes clear now. If you’re already a Christian, consider this an important refresher course to see if your gospel presentation is biblical.

Here’s the gospel in one sentence (vv23-25); “There is no distinction: 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.”

It starts with the already established fact – all have sinned and (therefore) fall short of the glory of God. There aren’t any ’slightly special moral people’, or ’slightly more evil people’ – this is a non-optional description of every human. We have all sinned, which as chapter 1:18-32 made clear, is the act of not giving God the glory he deserves, but worshipping created things, and ourselves. Thus, sinners fall short of the glory of God. Not ‘have fallen’ short, as though it were a past event, but right now, fall short, do not measure up to, inadequately compare to the glory of God, the perfection, righteousness and holiness of God. All fall short – including Christians, right now, because you’ve sinned and you’re still a sinner.

Then, amazingly, instead of continuing the sentence; all fall short of the glory of God, and are crushed under his unending wrath and judgment, it inexplicably and immediately says, and are justified. (!!!!) This should blow our minds. Justified means you’re declared innocent, as though you’d never sinned. That’s simply impossible – at least by our efforts, which is why, gloriously, we are justified by his grace as a gift. This is the good news! That God is a gracious God! He is offering a gift we do not deserve to receive! How can this be possible? How can a just God justify the guilty? How can he declare the guilty, innocent? It’s all because of what Jesus, or what God through Jesus, has done. 

We are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 

Redemption is a slavery word. If you ‘redeem’ a slave, you are buying a slave from slavery into freedom. You pay the ransom on their life and set them free. You pay the debt they owe to their slave master, and release them to freedom. The price for our sin is death, death is our slave master. Jesus Christ redeemed us by paying the debt by giving his life in death on the cross. He bought us back from death and judgment. How?

Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood. 

Propitiation means to ‘turn aside wrath’, to ‘divert anger’. God sent Jesus (his precious, perfect Son), to die on the cross, that his perfect sacrificial death would soak up, absorb and divert God’s holy wrath on our sins. The wrath of God would fall on Jesus. Jesus was not forced, he submitted to his Father out of unspeakable love. His blood was a propitiation for us, his blood brought atonement – literally meaning, at-one-ment. Men, back to being one with God.

That’s the good news. That’s how God’s righteousness can be yours. That’s how sinners like you can be made righteous in God’s eyes. That’s how sinners are justified. That’s how we were redeemed from slavery. That’s how our sins were atoned for, and the wrath of God was turned aside. This is how millions have had the burden of guilt and sin, which crushed their joy and hope, simply taken off them. This is how people become Christians, joyous, heaven bound Christians. It’s all through what Jesus did at Gethsemane 2000 years ago for you. This is the gospel. 

And the reason it is the gospel, the good news, is because all this news is to be received by nothing other than faith. See how this mighty passage ends, to be received by faith. Not by works, a payment, a due, a debt – no,  just belief. 

If you believe it’s true, turn to Christ Jesus and trust him – don’t wait.

Sinners, accept his good news with a humble joy and repentance today,

Matt.

 

Romans 3:19-22

19Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

The book of Romans is a hard slog – especially if you’ve only read the uplifting heights of chapters 5,8 and 12, and you feel inspired to go back to the start and read the whole thing – only to find that the first few chapters don’t seem to make any sense (and don’t even mention chapters 9-11!). This was certainly my experience. But now, having sat myself down for the last four months or so, and thrown myself into the first few chapters, it’s all starting to make sense – and I hope it is for you too as we go through it in this blog.

The reason I’m starting this post like I am, is because when we understand all the strange sounding stuff in the first few chapters, when we’ve got inside Paul’s thinking, it makes the bits we do understand all the more clear – and all the more spectacular. It’s the same with everything – the more you understand and actively feel the need for something, the greater the joy, urgency and delight when the thing you need appears. The drought-stricken farmer hears the first drop of rain on his tin roof in 5 months. The hungry and lost explorer sees the smoke rising from a house in the distance. You can’t manufacture those moments, and we usually take these things for granted. Many Christians take the gospel for granted, because they haven’t reflected much on their great need for it. And so they will be ashamed of the gospel of faith, the gospel of the righteousness of God for all who believe (in contrast to Paul in 1:17), because in reality it’s not that good a news to them.

But for those who have read 1:19 – 3:20 (the tricky bit!), and are just blown away by their need for a righteousness from God that comes through something other than the law, for, By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin (v20), verse 21 will be to them the drop of rain on the tin shed, the sight of the rising smoke. You can’t manufacture that joy by just reading 21 out of context, you’ll only get a taste of it! This is the good news of the gospel! The very righteousness, perfection of God, has been manifested apart from the law. The desperate sinner, convicted of their need at this point is desperate to read on How? When? Who – where has it been manifested, I NEED IT! And then it comes – verse 22, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

This is the moment of clarity, like the ringing of a bell inside the soul. This is what I’ve been searching for. This is it.

And instantly, the gospel demands several things of us. It first demands that we forsake our pride – for our salvation comes not from us, but to us. And it comes through Jesus. It demands therefore, faith in Jesus – the trust that what he has done (and that will be explained in the next few verses) is enough for them. The gospel demands we follow and trust Jesus, listen to his teaching (and what joy we will do such listening with) and lay down our lives for his name. But this is all post-salvation. This will never happen by law – that’s done with! It all happens as the sinner joyfully responds to God’s grace. For all they must do, at the end of the day, is believe.

The gospel demands faith and belief – but it gives endless joy and relief. Perhaps the demands of the gospel seem a little hard and unsettling to you. But it won’t be to the needful sinner – to them it would be like saying that to trust and believe that the lifesaver can actually bring them to shore safely is a ‘hard demand’ – especially when you’re about to drown.

Loving the good news,

Matt.

Romans 3:9-18

9What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; 11no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16in their paths are ruin and misery,
17and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

What a passage to come back to after 2 weeks holiday! This is the summation of the last two chapters – the final nail in the coffin for humanity’s self-worth. There is no-one righteous. No Jew, no Greek, nobody. Zero is a very small number. This is a really important structural point in the opening chapters of Romans. I find a helpful way to understand the structure of such a large book is to imagine cutting out large sections and bringing together key sections. For example, here, we could cut out everything from 1:19 through to 3:9, joining 1:16-18 and 3:10 together – and you can see the argument much clearer – 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel…(because)…in it the righteousness of God is revealed by faith…(why is that gospel so good?)…for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness…(then we could logically jump straight to 3:10)…As it is written: None is righteous, no, not one.

Everything in between 1:19-3:9 is there because Paul knows nobody how hard it is for people to believe that wrath is coming to all humanity. He knows how contentious such a claim is, that’s why he has to write all the stuff in between. The famous passage we look at today is simply a summary using OT texts of what Paul has already argued in great detail over the last few chapters, that’s why he says here in v9, For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. I hope this helps you see the context of this well known passage.

So we reach this famous final evaluation of humanity – just in case it wasn’t clear already from the last few chapters, just how much we need salvation, and how much we need that salvation to come from God.

Paul doesn’t even need to conclude things with his own words – he goes for something even more powerful – direct quotes from the OT. He strings together seven quotations, from Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Psalms and Isaiah. Together their impact is brutal. Universal depravity – None is righteous, no, not one…together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Universal rebellion - No one seeks for God. All have turned aside…there is no fear of God before their eyes. Universal evil – Their throat is an open grave…their feet are swift to shed blood. Universal Self-destruction – In their paths are ruin and misery and the way of peace they have not known.

If Romans 3 is true then;

Universalism, the idea that in the end God’s love will conquer all and bring everyone to heaven, is a lie.

Humanism, or any idea that humanity has an intrinsic self worth and goodness, is a lie.

Materialism, or any idea that says we haven’t committed wrong for there is no absolute morality, is a lie.

Liberalism, or any theology that downplays or ignores sin as a serious issue, is a lie.

Religion, Islam, Eastern Mysticism, or what most Australians believe – that in the end God will probably let them into heaven if they do enough good things, is a lie.

What you believe about Romans 3 will change everything. Absolutely everything. We’ll find out even more so next time why this is.

Let’s pray,

Heavenly Father,

So many scoff at your Word, so many puff themselves up before you without reason or thought – together, we have all become worthless – I am worthless. I barely know the depths of my rottenness before you, the depravity of my being. I want nothing more than to tell myself I’m a good guy – nothing is further from the truth. May I never take for granted the gospel of Jesus Christ, without which I would have no hope of salvation. No hope. Nothing would have turned me around. Nothing, for I would have had no reason or desire to seek anything but me and my own glorification, let alone the way to holiness. May your true children hold fast to this teaching of Romans 3, and in doing so, stand out as lights of truth in this dark, godless age.

In Christ’s wonderful saving name, Amen.

Good to be back behind the keyboard, thanks to all who were praying for our holiday,

Matt.