Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 3 as we continue our study through Paul’s letter to the Romans. Over the past several weeks we have seen Paul present his case that the whole world is guilty before God. He has shown that all have missed the mark of perfection and thus, their sin separates them from a holy and righteous God.
Now some may not agree with Paul’s assessment of man’s situation and thus, Paul puts God on the stand to testify how He sees the situation. And God gives a 14-count indictment against man showing that he is guilty before God, that none are good, no, not even one is good!
Now, beginning in Romans 3:21 and continuing through Romans 5:21 Paul is going to show us what justification is all about. He is going to show us how the righteousness of God has been revealed from Heaven apart from the works of the Law. And these chapters can be broken down as follows:
And so for the next several weeks we will be building upon this and as we do we
will see how salvation is not based upon the Law and works, but it is based upon grace and faith. Now, before we get to our text this morning, let me share with you this story that illustrates for us what justification is all about. Warren Wiersbe wrote the following story about the Rolls Royce. He wrote:
My
friend Dr. Roy Gustafson has the finest illustration of justification
I have ever heard. It seems that there was a man in
As
you can imagine, the fellow was wondering, “How much is this
going to cost me?” So when he got back to
- W. Wiersbe, Key Words of the Christian Life, p. 16
In saying that let me now share with you what Paul said back in Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” In other words, the Law does not have the power to save us, it can only show us how far short we measure up to the righteousness that God requires, which is perfection. That is why Paul said that no flesh, none at all, can be justified by the Law because man can’t keep the Law. Now as hopeless as that sounds, Paul does not leave us there. Thus, with that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 3, starting in verse 21 and see what the Lord has for us this morning as we study His Word and we look at the DESCRIPTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Here is our hope, not in what we can do or have done, but in what Jesus has done and is doing in our lives. You see, the Law is not here to JUSTIFY us but to TERRIFY us into the arms of Jesus. The Law is good, the Law is perfect, but if it does not produce conviction in our lives, it is worthless to us. Thus, with the remainder of our time this morning we are going to take a closer look at these verses we read this morning and see what we can glean from them.
VERSES 21-22
Here is the problem as J. C. Ryle tells us, “The blind man can see no difference between a masterpiece of Titian or Raphael and the queen’s head on a village signboard. The deaf man cannot distinguish between a penny whistle and a cathedral organ. The very animals whose smell is most offensive to us have no idea that they are offensive and are not offensive to one another. And man, fallen man, I believe, can have no just idea what a vile thing sin is in the sight of that God whose handiwork is absolutely perfect.”
But God has shown us our sin and now He shows us how we can be justified before Him. Now we will deal more with this word “justification” in a few minutes. But for now, please understand that it is a legal term. The story of the Rolls Royce we read this morning gives us an accurate picture – they have no record of a Rolls Royce breaking down and there is no record of our sin if we are in Christ!
And do you see how the righteousness of God is revealed APART from the Law and it is by faith in Jesus that we are saved. You see, this righteousness from God is given, not to those who BEHAVE, but to those who BELIEVE in Jesus, a commitment to Him, that He is their Lord and Savior!
And this righteousness that has been revealed to us is not a New Testament idea. Paul tells us that this righteousness is “witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.” What does that mean? There were the blood sacrifices that pointed to Jesus, the types and shadows but the substance is Christ. There were the prophecies given of the coming Messiah and the righteousness He would give.
In Isaiah 51:4-8 we are told, “Listen to Me, My people; And give ear to Me, O My nation: For law will proceed from Me, And I will make My justice rest As a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait upon Me, And on My arm they will trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished. Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, Nor be afraid of their insults. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, And the worm will eat them like wool; But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation from generation to generation.” And in Isaiah 56:1 we are told, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Keep justice, and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come, And My righteousness to be revealed.’” And of course there are many more, but you get the idea of the righteousness of God coming into this world through the Messiah.
And notice who this salvation is for, it is “to all and on all who believe.” This gift is for everyone, it is available to all, it is offered to all, it is sufficient for all. But it is only ON those who believe, who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The idea is this pardon was given to all but that pardon is only valid to those who receive it.
A great example of this is given to us by Tim LaHaye who wrote:
In the archives of the United States Supreme Court is the
Record of George Wilson, a man sentenced to die by hanging for
a crime he had committed. His case came before President Andrew
Jackson, who granted
It was therefore decreed by the court that George Wilson be hanged until dead – not because a pardon was not offered, but because it was not accepted.
This is a perfect picture of the sinner who hears the gospel of Jesus Christ, knows that God has written a pardon for him, yet rejects Him and thus forfeits his right to the pardon. If you are without the Savior today, it is because you choose to be. Your choice to reject Jesus Christ automatically invalidates your pardon and sentences you to the lake of fire.
Each of us is confronted with a choice. We can admit we are sinners in need of a Savior and invite Christ into our lives, or we can choose to reject Him. In either case we will live in eternity by our choice. Those who have chosen to put their faith in Christ will rule and reign with Him during the millennial kingdom and then go into the eternal ages surrounding His throne. Those who reject Him will be cast into the lake of fire and separated from Him forever. As the apostle Paul put it: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
- Tim LaHaye, Bible Prophecy, What You Need To Know
And lastly, “there is no difference” in that this gift is for both Jew and Gentile. Heaven is available to both – that the righteousness of Christ is imputed into our lives by faith!
VERSE 23
Again Paul wants everyone to know this fact and this verse can be translated like this. “All have sinned and are continually falling short of the glory of God.” You see, we keep missing the mark of perfection, none of us are perfect and we dealt with this verse last time. But please understand that we all have sinned, we all have missed that mark of perfection or God’s righteous standard, and it is not that we only did this, but all of us are continually falling short of God’s perfect standard of righteousness!
VERSES 24-26
Paul is showing us here that salvation is based upon these three points: JUSTIFICATION, REDEMPTION and PROPITIATION. These are important for us to understand and thus, we are going to spend a little time expounding on what they mean to us.
1. JUSTIFICATION
When you think of this word, think of it like this: “just-if-id” (never sinned). That is the thought and it is an image that Paul is painting from a court of law, it is a legal term. You see, there is no longer a record of our sin; the handwriting of requirements or all of our sins were wiped completely clean by Jesus!
Now please understand that God just doesn’t ignore our sins, but the blood of Christ has cleansed us of all our sins, they have been wiped away! And please understand that this is not an earned justification, we don’t deserve it because we are guilty before God. But it is an imputed justification or it has been placed into our account. It is a justification that is based upon the grace of God, a free gift given to us by God!
The Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook puts it like this:
Legal term meaning “acquittal,” a declaration that someone is in the right.
Sinners are in the wrong before God. They have broken his laws, they deserve punishment, but on the cross Christ took their place. Now, when they put their trust in Christ, they are declared to be in the right, acquitted, justified. The cross shows God to be just, not simply in the fact that he forgives, but in the way he forgives. To pass over sins would show mercy, but it would not show justice. Forgiveness by the way of the cross shows both (Rom. 3:25-26).
- The Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook, Walter A. Elwell, Editor, pp. 351-352
That is justification, it solves the problem of guilt because the price has been paid in full and we are now as white as snow, freed from sin in a positional sense!
2. REDEMPTION
In Paul’s day the idea of redemption was very clear in their minds. They understood what this was all about. You see, in the center of every Greek city stood the AGORA or the place of redemption. This is where slaves were bought and sold, but not the only thing that was bought and sold there. And thus, the Greek word for redemption is AGORAZO, but that is not the Greek word that Paul used here!
There is another Greek word for “redemption” and that is EXAGORAZO. This word speaks of “the act of purchasing or redeeming.” In Paul’s day that word sometimes meant to buy a slave and use him for a season to harvest or cultivate their fields and then when they were done they would return this slave to be sold again. But again, this is not the Greek word that Paul used here.
There is a third Greek word used for “redemption” and that is APOLUTROSIS and this word speaks of going to the AGORA to buy a slave with the sole purpose of setting him totally free, never to be a slave again. That is the Greek word that Paul used here. We are no longer slaves to sin; we have been bought and set free by Jesus Christ. He paid the price for our freedom!
And yes, we are bondslaves of Christ but that is a choice on our part. We have been set free from sin and we surrender our life to Jesus. He is the Master and we are His slave and we will serve Him the rest of our life, not out of constraint but out of love!
That is redemption. We have been purchased by Christ and set free from the bondage of sin that we were in and now we freely serve the Lord. You see, redemption solved the problem of bondage!
3. PROPITIATION
Now this word, “propitiation,” from a human perspective, speaks of appeasing someone who is angry and that was done, many times, by a gift. But that is not what the Biblical definition is. This word, Biblically speaking, means the satisfying of God’s holy Law. That His just demands were met, they were satisfied. And because of that God can freely forgive those who come to Him in Christ!
You see, Jesus, by His death, became the substitute sacrifice for us, a propitiation. When He hung on the cross of Calvary He was judged in our place as the sins of the world were cast upon Him. Thus, the Father could demonstrate His righteousness in judgment against sin while sparing us who deserve His judgment!
The word “propitiation” in the Greek is HILASTERION (hil-as-tay’-ree-on) and it is used in the Septuagint for the mercy seat, which was the lid that covered the Ark of the Covenant where the Law of God was kept. And on the Day of Atonement, Yon Kippur the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of a goat upon the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the people, we see that in Leviticus 16:15.
Now keep in mind that during this feast there were two goats. The one we read about that was sacrificed and his blood sprinkled over the mercy seat and the second goat, he was spared. You see, the high priest would place his hand on the head of this goat and the sins of the people were confessed upon the goat and then he was released into the wilderness never to be seen again. It is as Psalm 103:12 tells us, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
But those Old Testament sacrifices could never take away your sins; they only covered them for a time. You see, this was a picture of what Jesus would come to do, the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world and by His finished work our sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west to be remembered no more!
You see, Jesus has come to be that perfect sacrifice and to take away, not cover our sins. It is as Isaiah 53:4-6 tells us, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
It
is as
Folks, God said that the only place where He would meet
with man was at the mercy seat after the blood was applied and
now Jesus has become our mercy seat and His shed blood gives us
access to the Father, the atonement has been made. You see, apart
from Christ we cannot approach God the Father. That is not what
I have said, it is what Jesus said, “ . . . ‘I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through
Thus, the propitiation solves the problem of being rightful
objects of God’s wrath for as Jesus bore our sins on the
cross of
Now some may have this question: “How can a righteous God, a just God, justify a sinner and still be just?” That is a good question and the answer is simple. Jesus died in our place, he was the substitute for us and thus, God can justify sinners and still be just because the penalty for sin was paid for by Jesus!
Now what does it mean in verse 25 where it says that “God
had passed over the sins that were previously committed”?
He is speaking of those who were saved before Jesus went to the
cross of
What do I mean by that? The Old Testament saints died in the faith, looking forward to the coming Messiah and thus, Jesus saved them on that basis, knowing that His work would make full expiation or compensation for their sins. That is how they were saved, not by the works of the flesh, not be keeping the Law but by believing in the coming Messiah and He saved them on that basis only!
God did not accept their works of righteousness back then and He still doesn’t today. Let me explain it like this with this story. We are told:
It is an insult to God to try to add anything to Christ’s finished work. What if a boy was swimming in a lake one day, and began yelling for help. Another young man on shore ran to the water and swam out to rescue the first fellow. In the process of saving the life of the boy who was drowning, the young man lost his life. The two families, who had been observing all of this, were overwhelmed by the unexpected turn of events. The father of the youth who had been saved approached the father of the dead young man to offer his sympathy. “I really can’t express how much I appreciate what your boy did, and how sorry I am that he lost his life. But I just happen to have $1.83 on me, and want to offer this to you as an indication of my feelings.”
- Source Unknown
I think you get the point. By adding anything to the finished work of Christ you are not only cheapening the work but it is an insult to Christ. I wonder how many people see it that way, those that think they can work they way into Heaven? Obviously they don’t see it that way or they would not insult Christ by their actions of a salvation by works!
VERSE 27
You see, there is no room for boasting here because Christ did it all. All we have done is receive that free gift by faith! If this was a salvation by works, can you imagine all the boasting that would be going on because of what we have done? Paul clearly tells us that it is not of works in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Folks, we can’t boast, we can only be thankful for what God has done for us! Think of it like this: I did all the sinning and He, Jesus, did all the saving! That is the correct perspective to have!
VERSE 28
If you are still not sure, Paul makes the same point. Our
justification, our innocence isn’t because we have been good,
but because of our faith in the finished work of Christ on the
cross of
VERSE 29
The righteousness of Christ is not only available to the
Jews, but it is also available to the Gentiles! In fact, it is
available to all of mankind. Remember what Peter said
at that first church council meeting in
Do you see what Peter is saying here? He is telling them that they are out of their mind if they think the Gentiles need to keep the Law to be saved. I am paraphrasing of course! He tells them that the Jews, including himself couldn’t even keep the Law and yet they wanted the Gentiles to keep what they couldn’t! That makes no sense. And listen carefully to how he concludes, “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” Many miss this but look closely to what he said. He did not say that the Gentiles were saved like the Jews because there might be some confusion that they did need to keep the Law. No, he makes it very clear that the Jews are saved like the Gentiles, that is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, period!
VERSE 30
This is important for us to understand. There are not two different Gods, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. A God who saves by the Law and one by Grace! No, there is one God and one way of salvation for all of mankind! It is by faith for all! Peter said in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” There is no other way for salvation, all roads don’t lead to God, nor do all doors open to God, but there is one road, the narrow road and the door is Jesus because it is not my way or your way but YAHWEH!
VERSE 31
Paul closes with this important question. If we are saved by faith alone, does that men the Law is worthless, should we disregard the Law of God? Absolutely not! Then what is Paul’s point?
The Law established the fact that we are sinners, we have broken the Law of God and thus, Christ has come to pay our penalty and set us free from the bondage of sin we are in. We are told in John chapter 8, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’” John 8:31-36. Those who think that sin does not have them in bondage are fools. Jesus is the only one who can free us from the bondage of sin! Yes, the Law is good, the Law is perfect but we are not and thus, Jesus came to pay that penalty for us so we can have fellowship with the Father once again!
And keep in mind that the Gospel could never replace the Law because the Law was never a means of salvation, NEVER! The purpose of the Law was to draw sinful man to faith in Christ! In Galatians 3:23-29 Paul makes this point about the Law and its purpose. Paul wrote, “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Sons and Heirs For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
The Law was our schoolmaster, our tutor that showed us our sin and brought us to Jesus. But you must first come to the Law; you must understand that you are a sinner before you come to the Savior, before you come to Jesus. I like the way that John Stott summarizes what we have been talking about here this morning. He tells us: “We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.”
As I begin to close this morning, let me share with you these words that will help tie this all together. We are told:
How dangerous it is to join anything of our own to the righteousness of Christ, in pursuit of justification before God! Jesus Christ will never endure this; it reflects upon His work dishonorably. He will be all, or none, in our justification. If He has finished the work, what need is there of our additions? And if not, to what purpose are they? Can we finish that which Christ Himself could not complete? Did He finish the work, and will He ever divide the glory and praise of it with us? No, no; Christ is no half-Savior.
It is a hard thing to bring proud hearts to rest upon Christ for righteousness. God humbles the proud by calling sinners wholly from their own righteousness to Christ for their justification.
- John Flavel
Folks, let me leave you with this. Justification solves the problem of guilt. Redemption solves the problem of bondage. And propitiation solves the problem of being the rightful objects of God’s wrath. Praise the Lord for his indiscernible gift that He has given to us, His Son Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins, to set us free! That is the DESCRIPTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND IT IS ONLY FOUND IN CHRIST!