Romans 3:29-31

Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

There is One God of all, Who justifies all kinds of men by the same faith in Christ. Paul uses the words, “we maintain.” This truth is not just something that Paul values; it’s a truth that Christians embrace. Justification is by grace through faith apart from works. And amazingly, it’s for all people. It’s not just for the Jews, those to whom God gave His law. And that is offensive to them. That’s why Paul spends so much time explaining these Jew / Gentile issues. He wants more than anything for his own countrymen to understand what their God has done. And they needed to understand that…

…God doesn’t depend on what we do. He depends upon His work and His work in His Son. On God’s end, salvation is provided by grace. But it’s not just on God’s end. Our salvation is provided by grace. On our end, our faith, whereby we receive the grace of God in the gospel, is a gift of God. He gifts us with faith. So salvation is by grace at both ends: on God’s end and our end. We don’t do things in order to condition God’s acceptance of us, and the one thing that God requires of us—faith—He gives. It goes right back to the prayer of Augustine. He said to God, “Command what You will and grant what You command.” In other words, “Lord, command me to do anything You want. And make me willing and able and certain to do it.”

The law is not nullified, but upheld by this faith. Paul probably got this objection frequently: that the doctrine of justification by faith was nullifying the law. Justification by faith rightly understood, as Paul says, doesn’t lead you to neglect the law or negate or hate the law. In fact it will lead you to love the law of God. But on the other hand justification by faith doesn’t lead you to believe that you can do anything that you want. Paul raises and then briefly answers this question saying that God’s free justification does not mean that works or obedience or love do not have a place in the Christian life. Paul wants us to hold two truths simultaneously in our understanding. We must understand first that there is absolutely no contribution whatsoever on our part to our justification. There is no work that we do or obedience that we do or love that we show or anything in us that determines whether or not God will justify us. There’s not even anything that God does in us that conditions our justification. Justification is done on the basis of the work of Jesus Christ. Paul wants us to understand that on the one hand; on the other hand he wants us to understand that obedience and works and love that flows from a renewed heart, those things are a necessary part of the Christian life.

God in His mercy accepts you not because of something in you, but because of something in His Son and something that His Son did. And so when He accepts you, He looks at His Son, not at you. Do works flow from the work of God in you? Of course they do. But that doesn't make them meritorious. We'll look more at this in chapter four, beginning next week.

Romans 3:27-28

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

No one can boast; we are justified by faith. Prior to v.27, in v.21-26, Paul told us the grounds or basis on which we are saved. Here Paul focuses us on that way by which we receive our justification. He focuses us on faith, the instrument of justification. Those two things are different. There’s the basis on which we are justified, the work of Christ, and there’s the way in which we receive that justification, faith. The doctrine of justification by faith excludes boasting, because it is not based on us or our works. It’s based on the work of Christ, and it’s a gift of grace received by faith. Paul first set forth the basics of the doctrine of justification, the doctrine of salvation by God’s free justification based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ received through faith alone. And now much of Paul’s remaining theological section of Romans is based upon the implications of the doctrine of justification for our lives.

Paul is saying in these verses that when we understand salvation, justification, and the grounds on which God accepts a person, when we understand the way that we receive the blessings of justification, there is no room left for pride, no room left for boasting. Would you say this: “There was something I did, something I believed, that set me apart from others, that made me special, that made God bring me into His Kingdom and not others. In the final analysis, something in me accounted for my eternal life. I improved the grace given me by contributing my faith, whereas others failed to do so. I believed and thereby fulfilled God’s plan, whereas others did not believe and failed to receive the benefits of God’s gracious offer, and that is why I was accepted by God”? Paul wants us to understand that our standing with God has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with anything in us. Faith corresponds to grace. Work corresponds to debt. Therefore faith excludes boasting, and work supports boasting. If you are the beneficiary of grace in all that you are and have, you cannot boast in yourself. 1 Corinthians 4:7 “What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” When all is gift, boasting is excluded. We’ll see more of this in Romans 4.

Paul says in v.28: “a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” This seems to contradict James 2:24: “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” How do we reconcile these statements? Charles Spurgeon said, “There’s no need to reconcile friends.” Paul is clearly talking about how a man is accepted by God. He is dealing with the issue of how it can be that unrighteous people can be accepted by a righteous God. He is specifically dealing with the issue of the way that we are justified, declared righteous, pardoned, and accepted. James, however, is talking about something else. James is writing in the context of dealing with hypocrisy in the church. There are some people who claim to believe, claim to be Christians, but their lives do not bear the fruit of their profession. How do you tell the difference between somebody who claims to be a Christian but isn’t, and someone who claims to be a Christian and is? How do you know whether a person really believes? What demonstrates their Christianity? James answer is clear. “Faith brings forth the fruit of holiness.” So faith and obedience, holiness, says James, demonstrates a person to be a believer. See four notes on this issue:

(1) Paul is dealing with how one is made right before God. James is dealing with the sin of hypocrisy (see James 2:14). (2) James does not ask the question, “Can faith alone really save a person?” That’s not what James is talking about. He’s not asking if real faith by itself saves a person. James is asking another question: “Can claimed faith demonstrate a person to really be a Christian?” (3) James is clearly concerned about what he calls dead faith. There were no deeds from those claiming to have faith. There was no workmanship for which we were created in grace as Paul says in Ephesians 2. And so we know from Ephesians and elsewhere that Paul is clearly concerned about people who make a profession but show no marks of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. (4) Both James and Paul use Abraham to make their point: James goes to the story of Abraham in order to prove that faith without fruit, without deeds, without obedience, without love, is not real faith. But notice that he gives us a clue. He quotes from Genesis 15:6 “Abraham believed and God reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Then he says that Abraham was justified when he offered up Isaac. Then he draws his conclusion. “So you see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Now that’s the clue to show that he’s not contradicting Paul. When did God say to Abraham that he was justified by faith? Before Isaac was born. When did Abraham offer Isaac up? Years and years and years later. Therefore, James knows that his audience, being good Jewish Christians, knows that God’s declaration of Abraham as righteous came seven chapters before Abraham offered up Isaac. James is giving a clue that he is not talking about God’s acceptance of Abraham; he’s talking about Abraham’s demonstration that he does belong to God. Over and over James gives clues to help his audience understand that he is not attempting to contradict what Paul said. In fact, Paul, in the last verse of Romans 3, acknowledges that faith and obedience go hand in hand in the Christian life. But Paul also knows that our obedience has nothing to do with God’s justification, and he wants us to hold those two truths right together. There’s no need to reconcile friends. Does God call us to obedience as Christians? Absolutely. Does our obedience have anything to do whatsoever with God’s acceptance of us? Absolutely not. And if you get that wrong, you get everything wrong.

Conditionality inserted into any relationship severs the capacity for intimacy in that relationship. If you are obeying because you are afraid of the rejection of God, then you are obeying out of an ungodly fear. If you are a believer, then God has accepted you in His Son, and your obedience is not rendered in order to get Him to like you, love you, and save you. It’s rendered out of gratitude for the salvation that is already yours. Look quickly in Exodus 20:2-3. The Ten Commandments are going to be given. Is this another way of salvation that Moses is suggesting? No. “I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery… You shall have no other gods before Me.” See what God says. He does not say “Here are the Ten Commandments. If you will obey them, or try really hard to obey them, then I will bring you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” That is not what God says. God says, “I have brought you out of the land of Egypt. I have brought you out of the house of slavery. I have redeemed you. Now obey.” Redeemed! Now obey. That’s the order. Not obey in order to be redeemed. Do you get that? Paul is emphasizing when he says justification is by faith alone that we are redeemed for obedience, not redeemed by obedience. And that makes all the difference in the world. My obedience is not in order to earn the saving love of God. He already loves me more than I can ever know. My obedience flows from that love which I have received. That is the greatest news ever told.

Romans 3:25-26

God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement [Or as the one who would turn aside His wrath, taking away sin], through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

God punished Christ to demonstrate His justice, having, in forbearance, delayed or held back His wrath for this particular moment. God is just and the One Who justifies believers. Paul says something that should astonish us. God’s mercy towards us in Christ’s subsitutionary, atoning, propitiatory sacrifice, is rooted in God’s justice in Christ’s subsitutionary, atoning, propitiatory sacrifice. Apart from the gospel, Paul says, the validity of the Old Testament sacrificial system is called into question. It would have been immoral and unrighteous for God to institute a system establishing atonement and reconciliation based on the sacrifice of animals, because Scripture says it is and always was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. They were neither able to nor designed to forgive sins. So the Old Testament, as Hebrews declares, was always pointing to the sacrifice that actually could and actually would take away sins, the sacrifice of Christ. And that teaches us that Christ’s cross-work flows both backwards and forward in time. It is Christ’s cross-work that provides the covering for the sins of all those who were under God’s covenant of grace in the Old Testament. And that’s why it was just for God to be merciful to them, even though at that time in history no real sacrifice for sin had been provided. And so also it flows forward to us. We live 2000 years after His crucifixion, after His atoning work, and yet His benefits continue to flow forward.

Justification shows us how God’s mercy is grounded in justice and righteousness. Justification doesn’t compromise His justice or His mercy; it exalts both. Any presentation of the gospel that denies either God’s justice or His mercy is not the gospel. Both of those components must be present in a true presentation of the gospel. That’s the glory of the gospel; it doesn’t compromise the character of God. That’s what makes God both just and the One Who justifies. And who does He justify? The believer is justified, the one who has faith. All those things we talked about—justification, redemption, propitiation, atonement, and substitution—all those things are transferred through the channel of faith.

It’s important to understand that justification has to do with God, not the guilty party. It’s not in the hands of the guilty party to be made just or not. It’s in the hands of the judge. God is the judge, the One Who justifies. And if He justifies someone in His High and Supreme Court, He cannot righteously require a penalty from that person who has been made just. Remember Roman 8:29-30: Those who are justified are also glorified. There’s no turning back. And this gives great assurance of salvation to the believer.

God’s righteousness and justice was at stake in justification. God would have been unrighteous if He passed over sin without saving us in a way that demonstrates His infinite passion for His glory—which is His righteousness. But what we see is that: (1) God’s glory is upheld; (2) His wrath is propitiated; (3) the ransom is paid; (4) His righteousness is demonstrated. Praise Him!

Romans 3:25

God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement [Or as the One who would turn aside His wrath, taking away sin], through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished...

We'll look at verse 25 today and tomorrow.

God presented Christ as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice for propitiation. Paul is saying that our justification, our being legally declared righteous, is based on Christ having born our sin in our place and having turned aside and satisfied the wrath of God. It is final and permanent. Once a person is justified, that person cannot be punished. Paul points us to the work of Christ on the cross; God’s free forgiveness of us is right and just, because He did not slide our sins under the carpet. He paid for them by the blood of His own Son. The picture is not of a merciful Jesus trying to turn away the wrath of a mean, vindictive, narrow-minded, mean-spirited deity. No, it’s God Who displays publicly His Son as a propitiation through His blood. The Father is the author of justification, redemption, and propitiation. The Father’s love is upon His people, and the cross is the means of accomplishing the purposes of His love. Jesus is not on the cross trying to get God the Father involved in salvation. He’s on the cross because the Father has been involved in salvation from before creation. What do think of that?

Jesus was a substitionary, atoning, propitiatory sacrifice. We don’t use words like “justification,” “redemption,” “propitiation,” “atonement,” or “substitionary” very much. And it’s a shame, because all of these words are very important. Understanding their Scriptural meaning correctly is critical for having a consistent theology. We’ve already discussed “justification.” It means to declare righteous what is not.

“Redemption” speaks of purchasing back something that was in bondage, a prisoner of war or a slave. Redemption is like a ransom. Redeem means to set-free or release at a price. “Propitiation” means a “wrath-removing;” it speaks of turning away a deserved wrath. It means to pacify or appease or satisfy. “Atonement” (often considered as “at-one-ment”) means to extinguish guilt, to make amends for wrongdoing so that oneness and unity is accomplished or restored. It is reconciliation; and we can’t reconcile ourselves to God. We can’t atone for our own sins. We have nothing of atoning value to offer God that would reconcile us to Him. But Christ did. He had the blood of a perfect, sinless life.

See Hebrews 9:12-15,22,25-28; 10:4. “[Christ] did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of [animals] sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant…Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness… Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him… It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

When we speak of a “substitutionary” atonement, we mean that Christ reconciled those for whom He died to the Father. Christ substituted Himself for them. Will this not be honored by God? 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” All of these words bring freedom in the Christian life. Do you have guilt? Here’s justification. Are you bound to addictions? Here’s redemption. Do you fear the wrath of God? Here’s propitiation. All of these are freely offered, and I suggest applied, in the gospel, because Christ is a substitutionary atoning sacrifice.

Romans 3:24

...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

We are justified freely by grace through the redemption of Christ. Justification is absolutely free. Justification means the pronouncing or declaring of a person to be righteous. It’s a judicial term. And we contribute nothing to this declaration of God that we are justified. Now justification is an act, not an ongoing process. It’s a judicial act, and it’s not our act. God justifies. We don’t justify ourselves. In justification, God declares us righteous, and once done, it's done! He forgives us of our sin and spares us the penalty of that sin.

Remember the analogy of the pardon that we discussed awhile back. The pardon is freely offered and must be accepted by the guilty party. That’s true. But regarding the righteousness of the state, in this case, God, the punishment for the sin was already carried out in the Person of Jesus Christ; thus God will not and cannot righteously demand that punishment from the guilty party. Do you understand the critical implications of this, especially considering the substitionary atonement of Christ? If Christ paid the punishment price of someone’s sins, then God would be unrighteous, unjust, to also punish the sinner for those sins that were punished in Christ. Do you see? Justification is about what God does, not you.

Finally notice that justification, though free, is in fact, very costly. Justification is free for us, but it’s costly to God. Paul says that it is a gift by grace, but it is purchased for us through the redemption in Jesus. Christ has paid a purchase price for us. He bought us from God for God—from God’s wrath for God’s mercy. He paid by His life with His blood, bearing the penalty of sin, a purchase price. Will this price not buy what it was intended to purchase? As Paul would say, “God forbid!” Jesus has effectively accomplished exactly what He intended. So what was His purpose? Was it to merely offer salvation to all of mankind, and thereby require mankind to be the ultimate determiner of salvation? Was it actually save the elect? I, and Scripture I believe, suggest that Christ has fulfilled His purpose, to redeem those the Father gave Him. And it wasn’t everybody. How does what I’ve said make you feel? Did Christ fail in His efforts to purchase all of mankind? Or did He succeed in redeeming all those the Father gave Him? Do you see where this understanding, in order for us to be consistent in our doctrinal theology, is so critical? This is why the Calvinism / Arminianism debate is so important. It doesn’t determine whether or not you’re saved. Rather, it forces us to examine our theological consistency. We'll continue with this train of thought tomorrow.