Righteousness Romans 3:21-26
Today we’re continuing our examination of Paul’s letter to the Roman church. Last week I said that Romans was akin to a condensed version of the whole biblical message. The reformer Martin Luther wrote of Romans; it explains how a sinful man may get into a right relationship with God. Isn’t this the message of the Bible?
At the time of this letters writing there was a great divide between the Jewish converts and the Gentile converts. . To really understand this divide we need to know that the churches Paul started and then writes to have populations of both Jewish and Gentile converts. Those who were Jewish and came to know Christ thought that Gentiles who came to Jesus weren’t redeemed unless they accepted and followed the Jewish laws and traditions. Many Gentile converts believed the Jewish people had their chance and by rejecting Jesus as a nation, forgiveness and salvation has moved from them to the new believers in Christ. In this letter Paul walks the tight rope between these two, addressing both without disenfranchising either of them.
Paul starts in chapter two by addressing the Jewish Christians in the Roman church who are advocating for the Gentile Christians to follow Jewish customs to be saved. Romans 2:23, “You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?” And Romans 3:1, “What advantage is there in being a Jew…”
As I read this I see words written 2000 years ago but also words that are as relevant today as when they were put on paper. I ask the general question; do people, do churches, do denominations who claim Christ as their savior still purposely do things that Christ tells us are wrong? Do we put others down for the sin in their life while we continue to sin in ours? Do we demand others to completely change the way they live before we accept them as brothers and sisters all the while not changing our lives? Do Christians say we are all brothers and sisters but then question why some have different traditions than ours?
Like those early Jewish converts, do we say we love our neighbor but then require them to do things the way we do? Like those early converts, do we want things to stay the same instead of recognizing times change and we can all learn from others that god sends our way? I am not pointing my finger at any one person or group, Paul writes about human frailties and I am just trying to see how his words apply to our condition in the 21st century.
Paul asks if the Jewish converts are doing the things we just looked at then where is God in them. What advantage do they have? That question can be asked of Christians today. If we do these things where is God in us? Do we have any advantage as Christians?
Back to our reading, we see Paul addressed the Jewish Christians and then in Chapter three he moves on to address the Gentile converts who think they are better positioned in Christ, Romans 3:10-11, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands.” Paul tells his Jewish converts, just because you think you have something special in the law, don’t rely on it. And Paul tells his Gentile converts, don’t think you’re better because you have Jesus without the tethers of older traditions, in God’s eyes you are both equal in your sin and situation. Again, not meaning to point at any individual or group but looking at this as it applies to the great Christian community. I ask again, how many Christians, churches or denominations think they are the ones who have everything right? I mentioned before a church in our area that says everyone except its members are going to hell because they had a revelation and are the only ones doing it right.
Christian history shows the persecution of Protestants after the reformation. The founders of our own denomination were pushed out of Europe because they thought differently than others around them. I’ve read sermons by prominent ministers teaching their followers to fear, to ignore or avoid people who were different, whether that difference be in color, ethnicity or lifestyle; all the while not seeing the hate, prejudice and fear in themselves. We are human, we make mistakes and I am no different than anyone else. I think the greater sin is when a Christian points their finger at someone else to expose their sin and never realizing the truth of what Paul writes; we are just as guilty.
Paul tells those early Christians and Christians throughout the age; in sin we are all the same. And then after bringing us all to the lowest common denominator Paul lifts us up to glorious heights because in the ability to be redeemed and saved we are also all equal.
Verse 21, “…apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known.” What is this righteousness Paul writes about? Righteousness is the state or condition of being declared upright, moral, just or virtuous. Hear that again; righteousness is the state or condition of being declared upright, moral, just or virtuous.
Righteousness is not in your own eyes but in the eyes of those who look at you and declare you to be righteous. Any man or woman can look at themselves and say they are virtuous but when compared to a holy and perfect God, are we? And consider, when a man looks at you and says you are righteous, they think so only when they compare you to someone less righteous. But when God looks at you and declares you righteous you are seen in his eyes as perfect as his son is.
And how can we make God in heaven see us this way? Verse 23 says, “This righteousness is given through faith to all who believe.” We cannot earn this but the glory of God is that he gives it to us freely as a gift. Why? Because we have faith.
The Greek word used here for faith is “pistis,” a belief or conviction with the complimentary idea of trust. Hebrews 11:1 puts it this way, “…faith…is the conviction of things not seen.” The faith God is talking about is the intellectual belief in Jesus his son and the trust in your heart that Jesus is who he said he is and he took the punishment for your sins on the cross.
And who does Paul say can be gifted God’s righteousness; all who believe. Not just those from a certain area, not just those who worship a certain way, not just those who live a certain way, not those who labor in proving they are worthy, not just the Jewish converts or the Gentile believers; all who believe.
Paul explains this in Romans 10:9, “If you declare with your mouth…and believe in your heart…you will be saved.” There it is again; believe, have faith in your heart and then tell God and you will be a child of God, a brother or sister of Jesus Christ. And for those who say it can’t be just that, Romans 3:24, “and all are justified freely…” Freely, no grand confessions before men, no self punishment, no restitution. The man who was crucified with Jesus proves this. He didn’t shout out to the crowd his confession, he spoke quietly to Jesus. He couldn’t punish himself for days or weeks or years to prove his faith, he was about to die. He couldn’t make restitution for his actions, he was tied to a cross.
Verse 24 says, “all are justified freely by his grace…” By his grace, what is God’s grace? First, God’s grace is his forgiveness. It’s forgiveness from our sins and the gift of salvation.
Second, God’s grace is undeserved. We need to understand that we are fallen and broken and undeserving but the glory of God is he gives us what we need, not what we deserve. There are some Christians that will say they are entitled to God’s grace. Entitlement means you are good enough to get something. Jesus didn’t go to the cross because we are good enough, he went because he is good enough.
Third, God’s grace is never ending, once given it is never taken away. Abraham was declared by God to be righteous through faith, and then Abraham slept with the maid Hagar. God never removed Abraham’s righteousness.
Paul tells us in verse 25 “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood,” All through the history of God’s interaction with men, blood has represented God’s grace and was the seal of his promise. Death was prevented and the exodus through God’s grace was allowed by the blood of the Passover. The transposition of man’s sin and the righteousness of an unblemished animal happened through the sacrifice and blood of the animal.
God presented Christ as the sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood; Christ’s blood and sacrifice allows death, true spiritual death, to be removed from us. A person’s sin has been transposed onto Christ’s body at the cross; and Jesus righteousness and perfection has been transferred to us. All this is accomplished how? Verse 25, “…to be received by faith.”
If we go back to the Old Testament Book of Joshua when the spies were in Canaan, Rahab, who was not an Israelite says in Joshua 2:11, “…for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” She has understanding and faith and is told to hang a scarlet chord out her window and she and her family will be spared when Israel takes the land.
Back when Israel entered the Holy Land, God demonstrated that his grace and mercy, salvation through the shedding of blood as represented by the red chord, was designed for all people who believed in him. Now in his letter to the Roman church Paul is explaining this, whether you’re Jewish or Gentile if you have faith in the sacrificial death and shedding of blood at the cross God’s grace and mercy is given to you.
Going back to verse 25, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith.” In verse 26 Paul expands on what he just wrote. Why did God hand Jesus over as a sacrifice to atone for our sin with his blood? Why did God make it possible for us to be redeemed of sin and have the spiritual death we earn through sin passover us? Paul answers these here.
God did it to show us he is just, he did it to show us his own righteousness. God’s sacrifice of his son for our sin made it possible for him to offer us eternal life without letting sin go unpunished. Through the cross God demonstrated his love, his justice and his righteousness.
Only the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross could accomplish these two things; to uphold the justness of God and the merciful love of God. God can forgive us, God can redeem us, God can justify us, and he can do all this with perfect holiness and perfect righteousness because our sins have been punished.
To recap what Paul tells us today; we as Christians must not demand others be better Christians than we are willing to be. We must all understand that each of us can do better, we can all be better Christians.
Paul explains to the world through the Roman church that no matter who we are the glory of God is forgiveness by grace through Christ Jesus and this glory is offered to everyone, all you need to do is believe and accept it.
And last; the work of the sacrificial death and shedding of blood for sin has been accomplished by Jesus on the cross and the great joy of the cross is this; God punished our sin and still in perfect holiness offers us salvation.
God bless you all.