Romans 5:2

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1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ~ Romans 5:1-2

Today, we continue our study of Romans 5 where the Apostle Paul is revealing to us the benefits of our rightness with God. Yesterday, we considered the first result in v.1: Peace with God. Today, we consider the second: access by faith into this grace.

There is nothing like the grace of God. Philip Yancey once said, "Grace is like water, it always runs downhill." God's grace is accessible to anyone willing to humble himself before the Lord. This access is the result of being forgiven and being given the Spirit of God who has awakened our formerly dead spirit to Him. 
When mankind chose to reject God and His definition of things, we instantly became dead to God. Sin blocked our ability to access Him and to relate to Him as He originally intended.

This is why in John 3 the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again." Sin drove the life of God out of us once we decided that God could not be trusted. The amazing thing is that God has always been known to come looking for sdistrustful man. Once we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior and we invite Him into our lives, God makes alive to Himself. God makes us alive to Himself when we embraced His humility. Just like the Prodigal Son, humility gives us the wherewithal to return to the Father. Most often we access humility through humiliating circumstances. This explains why humility is not in high demand. Not to mention that it most often makes us look weak. No one wants to be humbled or to look weak. Yet, humility is one of the greatest of blessings, because it puts us in the position to be embraced by God.

Thomas Merton once wrote, "A humble man can do great things with an uncommon perfection because he is no longer concerned about incidentals, like his own interests or his own reputation, and therefore he no longer needs to waste his efforts in defending them. For a humble man is not afraid of failure. In fact, he is not afraid of anything, even of himself, since perfect humility implies perfect confidence in the power of God before Whom no other power has any meaning and for Whom there is no such thing as an obstacle. Humility is the surest sign of strength." 

Getting back to Romans 5:2 we read, "through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." 

Note that word "stand." The grace of God fortifies, secures, and establishes the believer in Christ. I have increasingly notice in my years of being a Christian that my insecurities are what causes me, from a posture of fear, to embrace "the not so wise way." It is the grace of God that does the work that challenges the root of all sin most profoundly. The root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good. When we can't see that God always has our best at heart, it is then that we wander off from Him. His grace always calls us back to Himself. And, once He has, He calls us to lose control of our lives. The way of God's grace frees us from the way of self and death.

Through His grace God wants to grip us. We are hesitant to be gripped by anything, including a story and especially the author of a story. We are always skeptical of stories that are too good to be true. But, we are constantly drawn to such stories. We want to believe that Frodo will do in evil as he hurls the wicked ring into the flames of the abyss. And, if God's grace grips us, we will not only be attracted to such stories, we will take on the leading role in such a story. There has always been something within us that makes us to want to grip back. 

The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a real story. The Lord Jesus is not just some made up character in a storybook. Time as we know it proves that He was a real historical figure. And, His story highlights the fact that grace defeated sin and death. It can also defeat our suspicions and win our allegiance for the author of the story so that we allow ourselves to be gripped by Him. Once His grace grips us and we grip back, we are enabled to live a life free of the entanglements of insecurity and fear.

The last sentence in today's passage reads, "And we boast in the hope of the glory of God."  

A better translation of that word "hope" is "a happy certainty." The Christian's salvation is anchored in the past because the Lord Jesus made peace with God on our behalf. Our salvation is anchored in the present because we have access to God continually. And now, our salvation is anchored in the future because we have a promise from God that all of this will lead us to heaven. God's hope is a ringing certainty, based upon the words of the Lord Jesus Himself. In John 14:19 we read, "Because I live, you shall live also." That is the certain hope of everyone who has been justified by faith. The hope of the Christian is in the glory of God. 

The apostle Paul also wrote, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Our hope goes beyond today." 

The day the Lord Jesus died, the hope of the disciples died with Him. But, only for a few hours because on that third day the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. When the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, hope went ballistic. In fact, later Peter wrote that he had a living hope because of the resurrection. This kind of hope never dies because the Lord Jesus overcame sin and death once and for all.

Romans 5:1

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Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ Romans 5:1

Today, we continue our study of the letter written to the first century Christians who lived in Rome. This powerful book is a description of the righteousness of God come to the souls of those who are humble enough to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans is about the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ through whom God arranged the only way to justify the ungodly. Whereas Romans 4 was about the basis of our justification before God, Romans 5 is about the benefits of our justification before God. Today, we will consider the first of these benefits and it is peace with God.

Peace with God brings to a screeching halt the hostility that existed between us and God. This hostility was not of God, it was created out of the void of our disconnection with Him due to our violent and intentional rejection of His kingdom. This first immediate effect of our justification means our war with God is over. It means our rebellion against Him and our war with Him is history because the Lord Jesus signed our peace treaty with God with His blood.

I find a lot of people who say it is not fair that God holds all of mankind responsible for the choice of Adam and Eve. Well, He doesn't. He holds us responsible for our choice of rebellion against Him. He holds us responsible for choosing to reject the free gift that solves our problem of separation from God. But, when we receive the free gift that His Son garnered for us, we experience peace with God.

The believer's justification before God through Christ brings with it the declaration of acquittal. This legal declaration, results in peace with God. This acquittal is not based on our merit or performance, it is not even pronounced on us because we are somehow not guilty. No, it is pronounced by God as a result of the work the Lord Jesus accomplished on His cross. It is accessed by us when we come to the point of deciding to place our faith solely on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The Second Law of Thermodynamics declares anything left in isolation deteriorates. Sin has separated us from God and eternal life. This separation is largely expressed in our lives by our distrust of God. When God reconciled us to Himself through the death of His Son, He made it possible for His wrath to be diverted from us onto His Son. By the death of the Lord Jesus, the barrier of separation that sin erected between us and God can be ripped away, only if we receive the free gift. When we get to the point of being willing of heart to believe, our place in the family of God will be realized by us. 

There are three types of peace in the Bible. There is spiritual peace or peace with God. Then there is psychological peace or peace within. And then, finally, there is relational peace or peace with others. Peace with God makes the other two possible and it is a gift. Peace within oneself is the fruit of that gift. And, peace between people is a result of the work of God's righteousness in our lives.

According to today's verse, having been reunited to God through His Son, we have access to eternal life which is much more than the forgiveness of sin and the ability to get into heaven. This life with the touch of eternity upon it brings with it the ability to get life right now. Not that we can earn or maintain rightness with God, the Lord Jesus took care of that. No, this life brings with it the ability to access the wisdom of God. The importance of this is far reaching. In fact, far more reaching than we can imagine because it gets to the real purpose behind our sanctification which is the salvation of the lost. The process that we enter into after we have been made right with God has as its design the salvation of the unbeliever. The goal of our sanctification or the changing of our souls is much more than we have ever known. It is God's design that as we come into a personal relationship with Him and we grow in His wisdom by choosing to walk in His culture, the lost would be able to peer into our lives and want what we have with God.

Romans 4:19-25

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19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." ~ Romans 4:19-25

Today, we come to the conclusion of our study of Romans 4 wherein the Apostle Paul establishes that even though rebellious and sinful man has been found helpless and hopeless due to his sinfulness, God sent His Son to earth to remedy our problem. And, as a result of placing our faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, we have been fashioned to be able to spend eternity in heaven with Him. 

In Romans 4-5 the Apostle Paul explains how we are saved by grace through our faith in the God of the Bible and the promise that He made to Abraham and to all who are humble enough to believe in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith has always been the means by which anyone enters into a personal relationship with God. It was Adrian Rogers who aptly once said: "When your eye is right, it responds to light. When your ear is right, it responds to sound. When your heart is right, it responds to God, and that response is called faith. Unbelief comes out of the heart. Faith honors God and God honors faith."

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead."

The phrase, "Without weakening in his faith," is a challenge to understand but when we think of it from a realistic point of view, we begin to see that like you and me, Abraham was at times weak in his faith. Struggling with our faith is a significant part of the strengthening of our faith. In the same way that the muscles in our bodies are strengthened through tearing, so our faith is developed when it is stretched and even torn. We think that pain and hardship is the enemy of our hearts ability to see God, but to the contrary. Our faith is developed best and most completely through those dark moments when we lose sight of God with our eyes. It is through those dark moments that our faith in the God of the Bible whom we can't see is developed best.

Twenty-five years passed after God first gave to Abraham the promise of not only a son but of descendants. Undoubtedly with the passing of each year, Abraham struggled to understand God's plan. But, this is the context where the God of the Bible shows up the best in the lives of those whose hearts are tilted toward Him. The impossibility of a 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman conceiving a child just underscores that Isaac was the result of God's power. That impossibility points us to another impossibility: the salvation of those humble enough to believe in the One born to a virgin.

In v.20-22 of today's passage we read, "20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness."

God does not judge our faith in a single snapshot. No, He looks at the whole. We have thought, just seconds after our failures, "God has given upon me." Such a statement is made by the one who does not understand the nature of faith or of our sanctification. You see, it isn't our faith that saves us. No, it is the Savior who saves us. Of course, our faith plays a role, but when we think that it is the quality of our faith that accomplishes the great exploits of our God, we reveal that we simply have a puny view of this God who mastermind our eternity.

Full persuasion of the heart is the product of greater uncertainty of the eyes. Mike Yaconelli once said, "Life is a kind of unraveling of the mystery of ourselves, a never-ending search for clues about the stranger that resides within. The older we get, the more complicated the mystery becomes. Our identity weaves its web into more intricate and sticky patterns. The more we know about ourselves, the less we know...and yet...yet there is, at the same time, a new kind of knowing." Through the diminishing of our greatest god, ourselves, we gain a greater vision of the true God, the God of old Abraham.

Those who desire for themselves the glory that the Lord deserves reveals perhaps they are not born again or that their faith hasn't been languished enough for them to be convinced that it is only God who can accomplish these great feats.

In v.23-24 of today's passage we read, "23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."

Amazingly, the believer in Christ is on par with father Abraham. This is only possible due to the fact that it was the goal of the Lord Jesus to share His glory with all crazy enough to believe in Him as our Savior. Think of it, the Lord Jesus has made us fellow-heirs with Himself. We will spend eternity with Him because He chose to stoop to our level to bring us up to His. And, as a result, we will be like Him in heaven; we will be for eternity bondservants.

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."

The moment we believed in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, the humility of heaven came to reside in our souls. His humility will fuel us for eternity. We think the greatest gift is that our sins are forgiven us but we are wrong. The greatest gift that was promised to Abraham was the very presence of God in our lives. In Galatians 3:14 we read, "Because of the price Christ Jesus paid, the good things that came to Abraham might come to the people who are not Jews. And by putting our trust in Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit He has promised." When the very presence of God arrived in our lives, He brought with Him His humility. It is this humility that is gradually moving our gaze from self to our Savior. To Him be the glory!

Romans 4:16-18

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16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  Romans 4:16-18

Today, we return to our study of Romans 4 where we are being shown what saving faith looks like. Having shown that all men are sinful and bound for Hell, the Apostle Paul is now showing us how our eternal hope was bolstered when God decided to reach out to rebellious and sinful man with a promise. As we have seen this promise is known as the Abrahamic Covenant.

The Abrahamic Covenant is an  unconditional covenant which is an agreement between two parties, but only one of the two parties has to do something. Nothing is required of the other party. In this covenant which is for all mankind, God’s solitary action shows that the covenant is principally His promise to us. Through this covenant God chose to bind Himself to the guaranteed results. In this case, the result is that those who believe in the promise of God are made right with God.

In v.16 of today's passage we read, "Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all." 

We all share this deep desire of being approved, of being loved, wanted and accepted. When we choose to make the God of the Bible the object of our faith, it is then that we take hold of this promise that God gave to Abraham so long ago. Better yet, it is then that the promise takes hold of us. The promise only comes to us after we have placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What good behavior could not do for us, faith in the God of the Bible does.

The grace of God is the champion here. The word "grace" is used 131 times in the Bible. Of that total number, 124 times, it appears in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul used this most wonderful word 86 times in his writings. This means two-thirds of all the usages of the word "grace" in the Bible are attributed to one writer: the Apostle Paul. 

The grace of God shouts to us that He is fully accepting of us, but, our sin must be dealt with before we can access God's acceptance. Whatever our greatest sin is, it is weaker than God’s grace. God’s grace is greater than not just our worst sin, but every sin we have ever committed or ever will commit ... combined. The reality is that even though we barely understand the depth of our sin, we vastly underestimate the power of God’s grace!

Our justification before God is accomplished not by obligation on our part, but freely through grace by the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. And, the more we understand what God has done for us as sinners, the more willing we will be to do whatever He requires. The first step involved in genuine sanctification is an ever-increasing awareness of our own sinfulness. With that comes, at the same time, an ever-increasing awareness of God’s grace. And then, with that, comes from us an ever-increasing love and willingness to obey Him. Obedience then is not a requirement for God's acceptance but a result of having been granted His acceptance through His grace.

In v.17 of today's passage we read, "As it is written: 'I have made you a father of many nations.' He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not."

From the beginning, God promised Abraham, this former Gentile, this man who was defined by the cultures of this world, would be the father of many ethnicities. We know this because the word that the Apostle uses here for "nations" is the Greek word from which we get our English word "ethnic peoples." We are the partakers of the promise to be the sons and daughters of God, not by anything but our trust that the God of the Bible has been truthful and we believe His promise. This has made it possible for Him to define us as His sons and daughters.

The last sentence of v.17 is powerful and it means that when we were conceived, we were conceived as dead toward God. But now, His grace has delivered unto the willing of heart the ability to believe in Him and His promise of life and authentic relationship with Him.

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.'" 

Salvation for Abraham was based on the same promise that our salvation is based upon. It is a sovereign and a gracious promise. It is given to those who do not deserve it. We are declared righteous and just, once we have believed that God is the God of salvation. God promised that we, along with Abraham, will inherit everything that is Christ’s. Abraham believed when all of the odds in Las Vegas were against him. And, when you and I believe, it is then that we realize the culture of God come to all of our yearnings, even those created out of our lack of hope. What a thrill it is when we see that He truly is involved in our lives, as He enables us to see with our hearts. 

Romans 4:13-15

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"13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression." ~ Romans 4:13-15

Today, we continue our study of Romans 4 where the Apostle Paul has established the fact that all of mankind is sinful and therefore separated from God. As a result, man's attempt to get life on this earth right doesn't work and will not work. This is why in Romans 4-5, the Apostle is showing us how to enter into a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by faith in the faithfulness of God that the righteousness of God is accessed by the believer in Jesus Christ. 

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith."

The promise that Abraham received from God that he would be the heir of the world is a reference to the Abrahamic Covenant which was first given to Abraham in Genesis 12. God repeated the Abrahamic Covenant to Abraham and built upon it in Genesis 15, 18, and 22. In that promise God promised Abraham physical and spiritual descendants likened to the sands of the sea and the stars of the heavens. 

Through the Abrahamic Covenant God promised to Abraham that he would be the heir of the world and that the blessing of salvation would be available to all of the peoples of the world. This salvation would come through the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In John 8:56 the Lord Jesus said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad." And, in Galatians 3:16 we read, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made." A careful study of Galatians reveals that the seed of Abraham is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In v.14-15 of today's passage we read, "14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression."

Many years after Abraham was on this earth, God gave to the people of Israel His Law, the Law of Moses. From the very beginning God intended that the Law would direct those of faith to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews had gotten to a place where they believed that they could earn God's favor through their adherence to the Law. But, if anyone could earn rightness before God through our adherence to the Law, we would be able to access the inheritance of the promise through the Law. But, that is impossible. Our sinful condition makes it impossible for us to access the promise of rightness before God through our obedience to the Law. 

The Law of Moses has never been able to save anyone, because, due to Original Sin, all the Law can do is to incite the wrath of God against us. All the Law does for anyone is to show us how bad we truly are. So, since we could not adhere to the Law, we stood condemned by the Law which made us the recipients of God's wrath. So, instead of depending upon the Law to define us, God introduced to us His grace through His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That last sentence in v.15 of today's text has caused much confusion among many down through the years. The Apostle Paul was simply saying that through the Law we know the definitions of God on any topic, and, as a result, we can know when we are at fault in our thoughts and/or our actions. And, of course, if there were no Law, we would not know where we were wrong. The is what the Apostle meant when he wrote, "And where there is no law there is no transgression." He was not saying that there was no sin, he was saying that the absence of the Law would have excused man of his sin. But, of course, this is not the case.

In Galatians 3:24 we read, "The Law was used to lead us to Christ. It was our teacher, and so we were made right with God by putting our trust in Christ." 

The whole book of Galatians reminds us again and again that the Law cannot make us righteous before God. However, the Law does one very important thing. In fact, it does several important things for us. After showing to us our utter helplessness to be made right before God, the Law leads us to Christ. We recognize right and wrong because of the Law. We recognize our failures, imperfections, sins, transgressions, and weaknesses because of the Law. In addition, we recognize our need for a Savior because of the Law. And, most importantly, we recognize the Lord Jesus as our Savior through the Law. But, if the Law has not done its work of crushing us before the Holy God of the Bible, we will lack the much needed preparation to be enabled to see the Lord Jesus as our Savior. You see, the Law has to show us our inability to measure up before God before we find ourselves willing to cry out to God for help.

Romans 4:11-12

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11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. ~ Romans 4:11-12

Today, we continue our study of Romans 4 where the Apostle Paul is in the middle of using the life of Abraham to show us that sinful man is only justified before God through faith in Christ. All who have ever chosen to place their faith in the God of the Bible are spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham. True worth and true value only come to those who have chosen to be defined by the gospel of God.

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them."

Circumcision was used of God as a sign to Abraham pointing him toward the superior reality of being made right before God through his faith placed in the God of the Bible. Circumcision functioned as a seal or an external confirmation of the righteous standing Abraham had already received before God through his faith almost thirty years earlier. Abraham was declared righteous by faith before he was circumcised. The result is that he can be, and indeed is, the spiritual father of every Gentile who believes but has never been circumcised. 

The moment Abraham chose to be defined by God he was made righteous in God's eyes. When God gave him the object lesson of circumcision many years after he had been justified, Abraham was continually reminded of the gift of being loved by God. Circumcision was given to Abraham to spur him on to allow God to make him a father of many. You and I have believed in Abraham's Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, and once we believed in the Lord Jesus, we became children of God.

What a change this makes in our orientation and in our motivation to life. Living life as a gift rather than something we earn changes everything. The disease of self is dealt a death blow in this context. And, as a result, we can relax and give God our lives and love on people without demanding anything in return. This is real freedom. This is what Christianity is all about. 

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised."

Life for us boils down to this: we are either being defined the culture of the devil or we are being defined by the culture of the God of the Bible. Abraham is our father and we are his descendants when we believe as he did in the God of the Bible. This is true for those who are circumcised and for those who are uncircumcised, Jew and Gentile. This means that both Jews and Gentiles are only made right before God by their faith in Him. It has always been faith, not rituals, that gains us access into a personal relationship with God. Abraham has always been the model of salvation by faith apart from any good work or behavior on our behalf. Abraham, once an uncircumcised Gentile became the father of the circumcised Jew so that all could be granted by God a heart for Him and His culture.

Circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign, a necessary picture, pointing to the desperate need of every sinner to have spiritual heart surgery. Circumcision was given to Abraham by God as an object lesson reminding him that his faith in the veracity of God was that which made him right before God. The teaching from circumcision is that only the righteousness of God can be credited to the one who believes only.

In Philippians 3:3 we read, "For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." 

The Scripture teaches us that the believer in Christ has been given the promised Holy Spirit to be the guarantee of our inheritance through Christ. Observing the Passover did not save anybody, it signified that God would save all those who believed in His promise of salvation through the blood of His Son. Through the Holy Spirit God circumcises the human heart and grants to all who believe in Him righteousness as He did with Abraham. 

In the same sense, observing the Lord’s Supper does not save us. No, the Lord's Supper is a mere reminder of what the Lord Jesus did in order to save us. The Lord's Supper declares to us when we observe it that God has saved us by the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Baptism or the Lord's Supper does not save us. They just declare that God has made it possible for us to be made right with God by receiving the free gift of forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ God's only begotten Son.

Romans 4:6-10

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"6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 'Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.' 9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!" ~ Romans 4:6-10

Today, we return to our study of Romans 4 where the Apostle Paul is establishing the fact that the believer in Christ is made right before God solely through his faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin. Romans 4-5 are all about the believers salvation of justification by faith.

In v.6 of today's passage we read, "David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works."

In this verse the Apostle Paul quickly moves from the righteousness of Abraham, who lived before the Law was given, to King David, who lived after the Law was given. King David effectively wrote of how blessed of God he was in light of the fact that he failed so miserably. And, we all know the story of how he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then arranged for the murder of her husband, Uriah.

In v.7-8 of today's passage we read, "Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them."

These two verses are a quote from Psalm 32:1-2. These words written by King David after he had committed those two most awful of sins, adultery and murder. In those verses David wrote about the joy he experienced after confessing his sins and experiencing God's forgiveness firsthand. Forgiveness of our sin is something God does, not what we do. It is not rooted in our own emotions. Forgiveness is what God does when He marks "canceled" over our debt of sin. We are forgiven when He declares us legally acquitted, regardless of how we might be feeling at the moment. This is why He foretold of His Son's death those many years ago in the Old Testament through men like David.

In Psalm 51, we learn of King David's deep pain and agony that his sin of adultery and murder brought him. As anyone would, David felt as if God had abandoned him. And, he subsequently felt deeply the horrible experience of guilt and separation. Had he not known the presence of God in his life previously, David would not even had written Psalm 51, a psalm that we have all benefitted from greatly. But, he not only knew the presence of God, he also knew the forgiveness of God. 

David wrote, "Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven." The word "forgiven" literally means "to send away." And, the duration of God's forgiveness is eternity. God remembers not our sins once they have been atoned for through Christ. In Psalm 103 David wrote, "Our sin has been removed as far as the east is from the west." Never ending is God's forgiveness for those humble enough to believe.

In v.9-10 of today's passage we read, "9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!"

The Apostle Paul further adds that Abraham's righteousness was a gift that he received from God long before he did anything meritorious or righteous. Abraham was called the friend of God, not because he was such an obedient servant, but because he believed in what God had promised. And, the adulterer and murderer, King David, found righteousness not by being the King of Israel, but through faith in the God of all forgiveness. God's type of forgiveness rendered in King David a broken spirit and a contrite heart. David was justified when he was a young shepherd-boy tending his father's sheep, but the more he discovered the long-suffering faithfulness of God, the more his heart resembled the heart of God. It was through David's failure that he learned of God's forgiveness. As a result, David is called a man after God's heart.  

God chose circumcision as the symbol of Abraham's friendship with God. Abraham was circumcised fourteen years after he was pronounced righteous by faith, fourteen years after he was called the friend of God. The believer is not justified by being good, but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I find it most instructive to remember that circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign and a seal. So, every time Abraham had to go to the bathroom, he was secretly reminded that God had made him His friend.

Intimacy is feeling without touching. This is the genius of God, especially when we consider how He has dealt with our rebelliousness. God allowed man to choose contrary to His will, so that man would know in his heart not only the guilt of sin but also its destructiveness. And, it is out of the guilt and destructiveness of sin that we were humbled enough to cry out to God for help. And, once we have experienced such grace from God, our hearts are made intimate with our Creator.

Romans 4:4-5

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4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. ~ Romans 4:4-5

  

Today, we return to our study of Romans 4 where the Apostle is establishing the fact that the believer in Christ is justified or made right before God only through his appropriated faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, today, we will see the masterful approach God chose in dealing with fallen man.

In v.4 of today's passage we read, "Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation."

Here the Apostle probes into the heart of the issue at hand. As we have pointed out several times before, Satan never tries to get us to follow him. No, he tries to get us to follow ourselves, and, in so doing, we follow him and his culture. Satan's goal is to get us to the point that we blame God for our fallen condition, and then, to get us to embrace his fallen approach to life and eternity.

When we believe that we somehow earn God's favor, we prove that we do not see ourselves as the wicked sinners that we truly are. To the one who knows in his heart that he can not earn God's favor, he will abandon his totalitarian approach to highlight his supposed self-righteousness. To the one who knows in his heart that he is ungodly and unacceptable before God, he is positioned, by faith, to embrace the only One who by His own humility justifies the ungodly. 

Today's passage is included in the context whereby the Apostle Paul uses the Old Testament patriarch Abraham as an illustration of a man who had been granted the gift of righteousness through his faith in the God of the Bible. In context, Paul establishes the fact that if we work for something, then we rightfully expect remuneration in return for the work. When this is the case, the remuneration is not a gift, it is what we have earned. We have been paid as a result of our labor and it is an obligation that must be paid. As a result, we can take the credit for having earned the wages. 

It is the default mode of fallen man to want glory. We all want varying degrees of fame and notability. The design that God created us with was meant to produce a glorious world for us, one wherein we would enjoy perfect relational harmony with God. But, sin corrupted the original design, and now you and I have inherited the desire to live for ourselves. Instead of living for the glory of God, we try to steal that glory for ourselves.

We demand to be in the center of our world. We take credit for what only God can produce. We want to be sovereign. We want others to worship us. We establish our own kingdom and punish those who break our laws. We tell ourselves that we're entitled to what we don't deserve, and we complain when we don't get whatever it is that we want.

If we were to somehow earn our salvation, God would be indebted to us. Imagine the God of the universe being in debt to sinful man. But salvation can only come by grace, because we are fallen in our sin and we can not perform well enough to earn God's favor. Righteousness before God was not something Abraham had earned, but something he was given by God's grace. Imagine this world with not one ounce of God's grace expressed. 

My mind goes to the movie, Back To The Future 2, where Biff Tannen gains power and fame by taking advantage of time travel. Biff had gotten his hands on a future sports almanac that gave all of the sporting results still to come, and by which, through placing sure-fire bets, Biff takes over the town of Hill Valley. The town quickly became a place of relentless evil and hopeless despair just days after Biff gains his power. In fact, it resembled Hell Valley more than it did Hill Valley. Since then whenever I conjure a picture of the horror of hell, it is often accompanied by images of Hill Valley in Back to the Future II. And, it gives us a peek into a world where there is no grace.

In v.5 of today's passage we read, "However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness." 

Abraham's faith account was credited by God with the largest check ever, God's righteousness. If God credited our account on the basis of our performance it would render the most disappointing of results. Since the Fall, man has been totally depraved. Total depravity is the belief that mankind is sinful throughout and can do nothing of himself to earn God’s favor. Because of his sinful state, mankind wants nothing to do with God as described in Romans 1:19-32. It is safe to say that because mankind is totally depraved, mankind chooses his sin, loves his sin, defends his sin, and glories in his sin. This is the backdrop one must understand if he were to understand the importance of the first word in v.5.

The first word in v.5 is "However." The Apostle Paul uses this word in order to turn us from self to turn us to the Savior. And, he uses Abraham as the example. The life of Abraham provides for us the perfect human picture of the gospel. Abraham was, in the eyes of God, a man who was dead to God because his sin had not been forgiven. Anybody who tries to earn God's acceptance by trying to perform for him, is a person who has not been granted a personal and living relationship with God. That is what this passage is saying. We are trying to gain something by our own merit that can never be gained that way.

Our faith in the God of the Bible is merely a channel through which we receive the acceptance that Christ has earned for us. Our faith in Him is an empty hand that reaches out. It is not God somehow concluding that we are so worthy due to our impeccable performance or faith. None of us can do enough good works of any kind to gain His favor. In fact, all of mankind beyond Adam and Eve were conceived in sins and trespasses. That means we were the enemies of God.

Several years ago, my wife and I decided to take our sons to the local mall and get a bite to eat at the food court. I knew that we didn't have much money in our checking account, but there was enough to buy the family a meal. I will never forget pulling up to the ATM and expecting to find a certain balance in my checking account. My jaw dropped when I learned that the balance was five thousand dollars more than I knew to be in there. Since, I knew the bank manager, I immediately went in to notify her that there had been a mistake made by someone. To make a long story short, I discovered the next day that someone had deposited over five thousand dollars into our account. 

This is illustrative of what God does for every believer who turns his back on his own self-righteousness and places his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This illustration breaks down though because there is one really big exception here: the deposit God has made into our account with Him is much, much more than a mere 5000 dollars. The amount that He deposited in our account is infinite. This is a picture of the doctrine of Justification by faith. And this is the theme of Romans 4-5.

Romans 4:1-3

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"1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'" ~ Romans 4:1-3

Today, we transition into Romans 4 where the Apostle Paul has begun his presentation on justification. As we have seen, in the first three chapters of this letter written to the Christians in Rome, the Apostle presented the useless and non-biblical approaches to life. Then, in Romans 3:21, he began to introduce us to the grace-saturated approach to life. Paul showed us that mankind's rejection of God's definition of things rendered us hopeless and helpless. 

Beginning in Romans 3:21 on through Romans 5, the Apostle presents the doctrine of Justification which means to be made right before God. It means that after trusting in the Lord Jesus work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin, in God's eyes, we are perfect, even though we will yet sin. This is so because God has imputed to us the perfection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?"

History informs us that Abraham was an idolator and worshiped the moon goddess named "Sin," among others gods. He didn't know any better for he was influenced by his family as they lived in Ur of the Chaldeans which is modern-day southern Iraq. It was in that context that God appeared to Abraham and spoke to him. In response, Abraham believed in the God of the Bible and he trusted Him to lead him to a land he had never seen before.

Like Abraham, we all have a problem with the concept of faith. Everyone has faith, even the atheist. The difference is the object of our faith. For years, you and I, trusted in ourselves to get life right. For me, in October of 1981 when my dad died, I began to question the substance of the object of my faith. It was at that moment that I turned to God. I wasn't convinced that He was really there. I just cried out to Him and invited Him into my life. And, He has been working in my life ever since.

Philip Yancey once said, "Inquisitiveness and questioning are inevitable parts of the life of faith. But where there is certainty, there is no room for faith." Faith brings with it the uncertain, and we do not like uncertainty. But life is more about entertaining the questions than it is about enjoying the answers. There is a fine line between fear and faith. Fear proves that we are in control. We, ignorantly believe, that we are the captains of our ships and that we can call the shots for our lives best. Not so! And it usually takes a tragedy to open our eyes to our need to direct our faith onto the One who truly is the Supreme Being.

In Genesis 12, God appeared to Abraham. The first thing recorded in that chapter is the fact that God spoke to Abraham. From that, we learn that it is God's word that creates faith in the life of the willing believer. In Romans 10:17 we read, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the rhema of God." The Greek word "rhema" means the spoken word of God. It is not that we hear with our ears the audible words of God. No, it is that we hear God's spoken word with our hearts. When we entertain His voice, biblical faith is born within our hearts. Biblical faith is the product of hearing the word of God spoken to us by God. And, it is this kind of faith that justifies us before Him through His Son.

In v.2 of today's passage we read, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God."

Since the law can only reveal sin and it can never remove our sin, God sent His Son to be the satisfying sacrifice so that we by faith in Him could enter into a personal relationship with Him. God even said that salvation by faith was witnessed by the law and the prophets in the previous verses. We find ourselves in that portion of Paul's letter to the Romans that he is proving that we are only justified before God through our faith in Him to be our God. This is why the Apostle writes that Abraham was not justified before God through his good behavior.

In v.3 of today's passage we read, "For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'" 

Abraham was made right before God by believing in Him and trusting Him with His life for time and eternity. There are those who say that the gospel is just too easy. They say this because they do not understand how much we are all messed up by sinfulness, even though we have not acted quite as egregiously as the worst among us. Our salvation, all of it, is God's work, not ours. We have a very low view of God and His truth if we think we can measure up to His perfection. The role that we play in our salvation is to simply believe with our hearts. This is more difficult for some due to their pride. Faith is truly steeped in humility.

The word "accounted" in this verse underscores the fact that Abraham, like you and me, was spiritually bankrupt. He had not one asset on his ledger before God. This is why God had to make a deposit into Abraham's account, and He did that through His Son's death on the cross. The gift of forgiveness and justification was given to Abraham in advance of that dreary day several thousand of years later when on the cross the Lord Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sin. Interestingly, when Abraham was around the Law wasn't. In fact, the Law of Moses came some 400 hundred years later. It was the Law and the Prophets that foretold of the One who would come and satisfy the Law and fulfill all of the prophecies. That One is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One who justifies us before God.

Romans 3:27-31

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"27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law." ~ Romans 3:27-31

Today, we conclude our study of Romans 3 where the Apostle Paul asks three questions in order to show the believer in Christ the utter importance of the Law in his life. The Law was not given to make us right before God because we could not obey it enough to be made anywhere near right before God. He gave us His Law to break our will so that we would see our need for the Savior and trust in His rightness.

The three questions the Apostle Paul highlights in today's passage underscores the fact that the Law or the truth of God place a very important role in the believers life after he has been born again. It is largely through the Law that the believer in Christ realizes and enjoys the blessings God has bestowed on us.

In v.27-28 of today's passage reads, "27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law."

The point of this first question is: There is no ground for pride in the life of the believer in Christ and he has no ground upon which he can be self-righteous. This is why the worst sin is self-righteousness. When we look condescendingly down our noses on others who are involved in certain sins like homosexuality or drug addiction, when we begin to think that we are better than they are, it is then that we have cheapened what God has done for us through His Son. The only ground of God's acceptance for any of us is the gift of His grace. No one is excluded from God's grace, Jew or Gentile, good or bad. It is there for the receiving for all willing of heart to believe God's rescue story of sinful and rebellious man. The ground at the foot of the cross is level for all who will risk believing that Christ has procured God's forgiveness on our behalf.

It was arrogant pride that inaugurated sin when Lucifer decided to no longer lead others to worship God and to redirect their worship. And, when we believe his lie to make life a go without God, we have allowed him, Lucifer, to trap up into rebelling against God. So, pride and its prodigy, self-righteousness, gains the upper hand in our lives.

In v.29-30 of today's passage we read, "29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith."

The point of this second question is that the God of the Bible is the God of all soft-hearted enough to be defined by Him. Think of the first Jew, Abram, whom God renamed Abraham. In renaming him, God or YHWH, gave Abram a part of his name. God took "hey" from the middle of His name and placed it in the middle of Abram's name. Abram + hey = Abraheyam or Abraham. The purpose of the name change was to establish God's covenant with Abraham. You see, the only thing that makes any of us acceptable before God is God Himself. We can not begin to take credit for our right standing before God, ever. Our rightness before God is a gift. This gift is literally more than the forgiveness of our sin, the gift is Himself. And, by the way, before Abraham was a Jew, he was a Gentile who grew up in southern Iraq.

In v.31 of today's passage we read, "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."

The point behind this third question is: The righteousness which the Law demands is the very righteousness that is given to us in Christ. So, if we have God's righteousness applied to us as a gift, we no longer need to fear the Law, because the demands of the Law have been met by the Lord Jesus. And, this is not something for which we can take credit because whenever we act upon our sin afterwards, the Law comes in again to do its work to show us that we are wrong. This is what the Bible refers to as conviction of sin. This is the primary purpose of the Law in the life of the believer in Christ. It is the Law, in tandem with the Holy Spirit, that shows us when we are wrong. This is when the Law is upheld or substantiated, when we respond to the conviction it renders and we turn back to the God of grace who is also the God of all truth.

The cross declares God’s justice and His grace. His justice confirms His Law, and His grace confirms His Love. And, when we see His love for all that it is, we will love the brilliance of His Law. The cross of Christ put the perfection of God on display. Equally, it magnified the grace of God when His Son arrived to lay down His life as a ransom for you and me. This is the gospel, and when the gospel grips our souls, we gratefully choose to be defined by God, by His Law, by His truth. When this happens, God's Law is established in our hearts, not to make us right with God, but to make us wise. 

Romans 3:25-26

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25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." ~ Romans 3:25-26

Today, we continue our study of Romans 3 where the Apostle Paul has transitioned from finding all of mankind guilty before a holy God to placing the spotlight on the only remedy for our sin problem. The day the Lord Jesus went up to the cross of Calvary, He put sinful self-love on trial, and, once and for all, He won the battle. He did this in order to create the opportunity for anyone willing enough to believe in His finished work on that cross to gain a personal relationship with God.

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished." 

The word "presented" literally means to place before or to set to be looked at. It means to expose to public view. This unique word has a second meaning which is to set before one's self to purpose or to determine. The way this word is used here answers the oft asked questions: "Has everyone been given a fair chance to believe?" In addition to creation and man's conscience, God sent the Lord Jesus to the cross revealing to man not only man's utter wickedness, but also, to reveal to man God's marvelous remedy to man's wickedness.

The phrase "as a sacrifice of atonement" is one word in the Greek language. It is only used twice in the New Testament and it means the Lord Jesus Christ "satisfied God's justice in order to make believing man recipients of God's love." That one Greek word describes the only means by which man could be forgiven by God. It means that the Son of God paid the debt of death that man owed to God the Father. He did this, so that we could be granted a personal relationship with God the Father for ourselves. This is eternal life!

This word "hilasterion" was pictured long ago in the Old Testament inside the Tabernacle. It was pictured by "the mercy seat" in the Holy of Holies. The lid on the top of "the Ark of the Covenant" was called the mercy seat. It was there that the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled. It was that shed blood applied on that mercy seat that covered all of the people's sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is our mercy seat. This is how once imprisoned people go free. When the Lord Jesus shed His blood on the cross, He satisfied the just demands of God's holy law.  

He took upon Himself our sin and the subsequent punishment, and God gave us His perfection. This happened when He said from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" At that moment He was separated from all love, all beauty, all truth, all warmth, all acceptance, all that is good, so that you and I could bask in all of that and more for eternity. 

The last five words of v.25, "to be received by faith," brings into view the role that you and I play in this narrative. The role that you and I play is to receive the free gift. It is a difficult thing to do since the ability to receive must be steeped in humility. In this case receiving is believing, believing that the Lord Jesus satisfied God's righteous demands on our behalf when He died on the cross of Calvary. 

The last sentence of v.25 reads, "He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished."

God punished His Son so that His righteousness would be upheld and His forbearance would be highlighted. This is important because it is this message that grants us the ability to know that we are forgiven and we can live as a freed people. The believer in Christ has been freed from the penalty of our past, present and future sins. One day, we will be freed from the power and presence of sin.

In v.26 of today's passage we read, "... he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."

The death of Christ says God is righteous. It also says mankind's sin had to be punished, otherwise the truth would have been compromised. And, if the truth were compromised all hell on earth would break out. And, hell would win. The Lord Jesus not only had to die for us, He had to die for the perpetuation of the truth. It was at the cross of Christ that God's justice and His mercy met. The penalty for our death and eternal separation from God was paid; something we could not do for ourselves.

Think of it: It is a truly amazing thing that the holy God Himself became the very sacrifice to His own justice. God died to satisfy His own righteous demands. He had to first satisfy Himself before He could be free to satisfy any human need. He stood in the way of His own saving work and had to be satisfied. And, He loved us so much that He went to that length to satisfy His own nature to be freed to satisfy forever the everlasting need of all who would ever be willing enough to believe this amazingly true story.

Romans 3:22-24

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22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~ Romans 3:22-24

The book of Romans is divided up into five parts: Chapters 1-3 are about the sinful condition of man. Chapters 4-5 are about salvation. Chapters 6-8 are about sanctification. Chapters 9-11 are about the sovereignty of God, and chapters 12-16 are about service. The last section of this epistle reveals the ultimate point to the book: a life of service to God and for others.

After evaluating man’s failed efforts to get life right for himself and to achieve some kind of standing before God, God chose to reveal His righteousness to man through the gospel of His Son. Through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has made it possible for man to be made right with Him without lowering His standards. The requirement for us to be made right before Him is an act of our will to choose to trust that His Son's finished work on the cross procured His forgiveness of our sin.

In v.22 of today's passage we read, "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile."

This word "righteousness" is a highly misunderstood word in today's world. Most associate it with good behavior. Man largely believes if his good behavior outweighs his bad behavior, God will have no other choice but to accept him into His heaven. But, this is not so according to the Bible. As pointed out in Romans 1:18 we were all sinful before we sinned. More than an action, sin is a condition. This is a key to understand because we see sin as less than it is. In fact, this is why we think some are more sinful than others. This is not the case. It is that some act on their sinfulness more wickedly than others. But, we are all equally wicked. 

"Righteousness" is God's standard. That means if we are not totally perfect and without sin, we can not enter into God's presence. The Lord Jesus came to deliver to wicked man the gift of salvation and it is for the taking for anyone willing to place our faith in His finished work on the cross for the removal of our sinful condition. Righteousness, in this case, is positional perfection. The believer in Christ will not know practical perfection until he is in heaven. It is the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ applied to us that makes us positionally righteous before the holy and just God of the Bible. 

We will never know this positional rightness before God until we decide to own up to our wickedness and our inability to get life right. And then, we choose to believe in the fact that the Lord Jesus died in our place. It is not until we receive the free gift of forgiveness of our sin that we will out of our accepted status in Christ enjoy a personal relationship with God. When we have come to this place, God will view us through the lens of His Son and His perfection. This, as a result, sets us on a journey whereby God will define us as we learn His culture through His word, the Bible. But, make no mistake about: No good behavior on our behalf will ever earn God's favor. The good behavior that follows salvation is the topic of Romans 6-8 which we will consider at a later time.

In v.23 of today's passage we read, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

All of mankind is in the same tragic situation. No mere man has ever escaped the taint of evil and sin. We lack a biblical understanding of sin because we see sin as an action. Long before sin was an action it was a condition. It was due to the fact that we were conceived into sin that we were separated from God. Not all have sinned to the same degree, but all have the same inability to measuring up to the standard that is required by God to remove that which separates us from Him. Our sinfulness has caused us to come up short of the glory of God so that we can not remotely be safe in His presence.

In v.24 of today's passage we read, "and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Through Christ, God has made it possible for us to be declared righteous "as a gift by His grace." The only way we can be made right before God is that we are granted the gift of salvation by Him through His Son. Grace is free only because the Giver Himself has borne the cost. This gift of forgiveness is not a wage; it is not something that we earn. In fact, it is a gift of His grace given to establish us as righteous before God. We do not deserve it and we never will. This is grace in its purest form.

Throughout his writings, the Apostle Paul uses the word "grace" which is the undeserved and unmerited favor of God. Once we have placed our faith in the Lord Jesus and the work He accomplished on the cross, our redemption frees us from our condition of bondage, captivity, enslavement and debt to God. In fact, there was no way out of that dark dungeon for us. Grace informs us that there is no cost to us for our redemption, but, it came at an incredible cost for the Lord Jesus. This is what redemption is, it is freedom achieved by the payment of a price. The price paid was the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave His life which was the only payment that could secure our freedom. I find it most interesting that in His teachings, the Lord Jesus never used the word "grace" itself. He did far more than that though. He taught and He lived grace, and, He has not stopped. 

The word "redemption" appears ten times in the New Testament. It always delivers the idea of deliverance by payment of a ransom. In this case, we have been delivered from the wrath of God so that we can enjoy all of the good things about God. This underscores what God's wrath is. God's wrath is the absence of all that is good. And, to be "redeemed" delivers the idea that our sin has been removed from us because the justice and wrath of God has been satisfied. 

In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read, "Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God." 

God treated the Lord Jesus as if He had committed our sins. As a result, He punished Him fully with all His wrath. While hanging on the cross, in just a matter of hours, this One who is an infinite being, took an infinite amount of punishment upon Himself for you and me. He bore all the wrath of God for all who have ever sinned and all who will yet sin. Through His death on the cross, all of the righteous demands of God were satisfied. It is the grace of God that enables us to choose Him with no strings attached. In that context love can grow. And, it will grow, because it is His grace that enables us to see His heart.

Romans 3:21

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But God has a way to make people right with him without the law, and he has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about. ~ Romans 3:21

The theme of Romans is the gospel which means "good news" and it is all about how sinful man can be made right before God. The way sinful man is made right before God is by way of imputation. God freely gives or imputes that which is not ours. That Bible calls this justification. God makes a declaration that those who trust in His Son's finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin are made right in His presence or worthy to be in His presence.

Beginning in Romans 1:19 through Romans 3:20, the Apostle Paul revealed the useless approaches of sinful man to make meaning out of his life. Since sinful man has this sense of lostness, guilt, loneliness, emptiness, and subsequent meaninglessness, he knows that there is more to life than what he has discovered. This, in fact, explains why religion exists. But the Bible is very clear that we can only be made right with God through the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. So, beginning in Romans 3:21 through the end of the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul shows us the only approach to life that works, and, it is the grace saturated life.

There are those who say there are only two religions in this world: the religion of human achievement and the religion of Christianity. I would beg to differ because religion all across the world underscores man's attempts to establish a relationship with God and that is impossible for sinful man. Having a proper understanding of religion reveals that Christianity is no religion at all because in Christianity God initiates a relationship with sinful man.

Beginning in Romans 1:18 and ending in Romans 3:20, we have learned that "the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of sinful man." Paul has aptly shown that all men are guilty of sin and therefore deserving of the judgement of God. We have seen that man is without a defense because what may be known of God and His truth He has made clear through creation and man's conscience. In fact, in Romans 3:10 we discovered: "There is no one who is righteous." As a result, "There is no one who seeks God." 

In the midst of all of this truth about the sinful condition of man, we learn that the Jews believed that they could be right with God by their adherence to perfect Law of God. But, man is imperfect and his attempts to earn God's favor is greatly wanting. Many think the Old Testament saints were made right with God because they performed sacrifices and they carried out certain rituals. That is not true. It is clear throughout the Bible that it has always been by faith in the God of the Bible that justified anyone before Him. The religious activities of the Old Testament saints was never the basis of God's acceptance of them. As we will see as we go through Romans, "The just shall live by faith." All of the sacrifices in the Old Testament were given because God intended for them to point the people to the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, as we come to our verse for today, we see that sinful man has been ushered into the courtroom of God and through God's Law man has been founded guilty. But, in that moment according to Romans 3:21, we read, "But God." The darkness of our sin can be dispelled. It was at that crucial moment in redemptive history when man was without hope that the God of the Bible revealed His righteousness. 

In today's verse we read, "But God has a way to make people right with him without the law." 

The first two words of this verse is God's great "nevertheless" given in the face of man's failure to make himself right before God. To be made right before God is highly misunderstood in our day. Often it is associated with man's good behavior. Most believe if their good behavior outweighs their bad, God will let them into heaven. This reveals they do not understand the perfect standard of God.

The most accurate understanding of righteousness is found in the word "worth." This sense of worth is the most essential element in human existence, and without it we cannot function as human beings. And then, along comes the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ which announces that the worth we long for has been made available to us. 

Notice the words "without the law." It is not the righteousness of man that makes us right with God. No, this worthiness before God is not the product of our adherence to the Law because we in our sinful state are incapable of measuring up to God's perfect standard of righteousness. The prophet Isaiah described our attempts to earn worthiness before God is as filthy rags. Our goodness can not earn a right and worthy standing before a holy God. So, we are introduced to the righteousness of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, the Lord Jesus came as the total fulfillment of God's perfect and righteous standard. He always did the Father's will, He never sinned a sin or thought an evil thought or said an evil word of any kind. He was absolutely without sin and therefore He had a righteousness which perfectly fulfilled the law. In fact, He kept every law of God to perfection. 

The Lord Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:20: "Your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees if you're going to be in My kingdom." 

The religious leaders of the Lord Jesus' day had a righteousness unacceptable before God. Their righteousness was flawed because they were sinful. This is why the Lord Jesus came to fulfill the Law or all truth. He did this so that we could vicariously benefit before the perfect God of the Bible. If God were to accept us as partially right then He would have undermined the truth. And, if that were the case, evil would have won.

The second half of today's verse reads, "and he has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about."

Those who believed in the God of the Bible who lived on this earth before the cross of Christ knew that the Law of Moses and all the 300 messianic prophesies of the Old Testament prophets were about One individual. The Law and the prophets bore testimony to the coming life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole Old Testament sacrificial system was a witness to mankind that One would come who would take away the sins of the world. In Psalm 32:1 King David prophesied, "Blessed is the person whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned." 

Romans 3:13-20

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"13 Their throats are like open graves; they use their tongues for telling lies.' 'Their words are like snake poison.' 14 'Their mouths are full of cursing and hate.' 15 'They are always ready to kill people. 16 Everywhere they go they cause ruin and misery. 17 They don’t know how to live in peace.' 18 'They have no fear of God.' 19 We know that the law’s commands are for those who have the law. This stops all excuses and brings the whole world under God’s judgment, 20 because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin." ~ Romans 3:13-20

Today, we return to our study of Romans 3 where the Apostle Paul concludes his indictment of the human race. In Romans 1-3, the Apostle has ushered all of mankind into the courtroom of God in order to declare us all guilty of sin before God. Sinful and rebellious man is not morally good by nature. No, we are morally bad by nature. We do not just sin, we are sinful. We are not innocent victims of sin, we are co-conspirators with sin against God.

In v.13-15 of today's passage we read, "'13 Their throats are like open graves; they use their tongues for telling lies.' 'Their words are like snake poison.' 14 'Their mouths are full of cursing and hate.' 15 'They are always ready to kill people.'"

Here, the Apostle describes the progressive nature of sin. He describes man's sinfulness by directing our attention to the inside of man. He begins in the throat, then to the tongue, then the words, and then, the whole mouth. Paul helps us to understand that we have a heart problem, this is why he moves us from the inward to the outward. The wicked heart of man is an open grave full of lies, poison, cursing, hatred and murder. 

Sin is a condition of open rebellion against God, not mainly a condition of doing bad things to other people. This is why it is so alarming when people argue that they are basically good. When we do this, we confuse decency with perfection. We think that since we do not do certain sins and we do some good things that we are basically acceptable before God. When we do this, we prove we do not understand that God's standard is perfect because He is perfect. This is why the Lord Jesus had to come and live a perfect life and to die a perfect death.

In v.16-18 of today's passage we read, "16 Everywhere they go they cause ruin and misery. 17 They don’t know how to live in peace. 18 They have no fear of God."

Our peace is a casualty of our lack of fear towards God. This is so due to the fact that our understanding of God and His culture has been cheapened by our rebellion. When God removes His restraining influence of righteousness on a people which has rejected Him, the world of that people descends into anarchy. Ruin, misery and peace are lost. And, it all happens because we have come to the place where we no longer respect God and His culture. In fact, His culture has been replaced in this country with a culture that resembles Hell itself.

In v.19-20 of today's passage we read, "19 We know that the law’s commands are for those who have the law. This stops all excuses and brings the whole world under God’s judgment, 20 because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin."

God gave sinful man the Law of Moses in order to shut our mouths, and, to shine His light on our sinfulness. He did this so that we might see true reality, a reality only defined by His Word. It is out of this context that we understand His righteousness and our wickedness best. The Law, to paraphrase Martin Luther, is a divinely sent Hercules sent to attack and kill the monster of self-righteousness, a monster that continues to harass us, even though we may have been born again.

The Law of God gives us a proper understanding of the perfection God requires. Those with a high view of the Law have a high view of God's grace. Those with a low view of the Law have a low view of God's grace. It is only when we have a high view of God's Law that we are motivated to yearn for God's grace. A low view of the Law encourages us to conclude that we can measure up to the Law. A low view of the Law makes us think that its standards are attainable, its goals reachable, and, its demands doable by us.

A high view of the Law, however, demolishes all such confidence. It leaves us no room for supposing that God gave us His Law to enable us to be acceptable before Him. The biggest problem facing us today is a low view of the Law because a low view of the Law lessens our appreciation for God's grace.

It is only when we see that God's Law is absolutely inflexible and unattainable by us that will we see that God's grace is the most wonderful thing ever. A high view of the Law enables us to understand that only God accepts us through His Son's perfection. A high view of the Law produces a high view of God's grace. And, a high view of His Law makes us run as fast as we can to the Savior who deliberately came to earth to render the grace of God because the Law of God had condemned us.