05 Romans 3:9-31

 

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Romans 3:9-15

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips;” “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Paul has just established that not only have Gentiles rejected God, but the Jews too have forsaken Him but despite that, God still remained faithful to them. He then asks his Jewish readers if they think that they are better than the Gentiles, and answers the question in the negative. He then goes on to quote from Psalms 14:1-3, where he reiterates the fact that there is no one righteous, and no one who even seeks God.

He goes on to mention how man has used their throats, tongues, lips and mouths to speak deceit, to hurt one another, and express bitterness, eventually using their feet to go places to shed blood – to take the lives of one another.

Romans 3:16-20

Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

He continues to say that man has rebelled against God, and added destruction and misery to his lifestyle, resulting in a lack of peace to theirs, and others’ lives as well. He lists one more member of the body that we use to rebel against God – our eyes. He then reminds the Jews that the law was given to them (not to the gentiles). The law silences the Jews because the law proves that they are guilty before God, owing to their inability to live according to God’s law.

He further reiterates that no one could be made righteous by keeping the law – in fact the opposite is true – people realise how sinful they are through the law. He concludes this thought by saying in effect, “If there was no law, then there would have been no sin.”

Romans 3:21-26

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Paul then begins to explain how God’s own perfect righteousness is revealed to man, and that this has nothing to do with the keeping of the law. He refers to the law and the prophets standing by, as it were, and watching this amazing unfolding of God’s gift of righteousness to mankind. And the best part is that it’s available to us free of cost – all it takes is, for one to have faith (belief and trust) in the work of Jesus on their behalf, to receive it.

It’s available to all – Jews and Gentiles alike. For all have sinned and come short of God’s holy expectations of them and therefore not only were all people guilty before God, but all people are now able to receive this free gift of righteousness from God.

One can be justified (made righteous) freely (with no cost on our part) because God, in his grace (unmerited favour) sent Jesus to pay the price, which was death, on our behalf, and thereby redeeming us form the penalty of sin.  When Jesus died in our place, He was taking upon Himself the punishment that every single human being had to bear for our sins. That’s what is meant by “God set forth as a propitiation.” But this is appropriated only to those who have faith in Jesus.

Jesus was ‘sprinkling His blood’ on the ‘mercy seat’ as it were, and making atonement for us with God i.e., making all those of us who put our faith in His work on our behalf, one with God again. We were now free from the penalty of death, because Jesus bore it Himself on our behalf.

God, being holy and just, had to punish sin – He couldn’t just overlook it or pretend it didn’t exist. Not all have understood the just nature of God, and that He must punish sin. So God demonstrated his righteousness and justice, when He punished Jesus in our place.

God was patient, and did not punish people for the sins of the past – if He had done so, no one would have lived, because sin has to be punished with death. There is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. All the blood of bulls and calves and sheep were pictures of what Jesus was going to do – be the Lamb of God, or the sacrifice that God Himself provided. So instead of punishing all people, God had a very loving, sacrificial plan to punish His Son Jesus in our place.

By God punishing sin, He proves that He is just. But He also proves He is the Justifier, because He now justifies (makes righteous) anyone who puts their faith in the finished work of His Son Jesus on our behalf, when he died on the cross. All those who put their faith in Jesus are justified, and this is done by the Just and Justifying God.

Romans 3:27-31

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Based on all the above facts about God’s plans for man’s salvation, Paul asks the question. “Where is boasting then?” He asks, “Who has the right to boast about anything before God?” He answers his question by saying that no one can boast. He then asks on what basis was boasting excluded. He asks if it is based on the basis of good works, and answers that too with a ‘No.’ Is boasting excluded because one couldn’t keep the law? That isn’t the reason – the reason boasting is excluded, is because righteousness is available free of cost to all people – Jews and Gentiles alike, based on faith in the work of Jesus on the cross on their behalf. No one can now boast about anything. If something has been received free of cost, where comes room for boasting then?

He concludes that the Jews were justified (made righteous by God) by faith without keeping the law, because no one could keep the law. He then asks if God is the God of the Jews only and follows it up with another question, asking if God is not also the God of the gentiles. He answers that in the affirmative – He’s the God of the Gentiles as well.

He then informs us that this justification (being made righteous by God) is available to the circumcised (Jews) and the uncircumcised (Gentiles), but both Jews and Gentiles can receive this gift only by faith. Just because Jesus paid the price for all people, does not mean all people appropriate it – only those who believe and trust in Him appropriate it in their lives. It’s like an invitation – many are called but only those who respond to it, enjoy the event.

He then closes this section by asking whether the law is now made null and void because righteousness is now made available through faith in Jesus, and not by the keeping of the law. He answers that too in the negative, and adds, that instead of seeing the righteousness through faith as nullifying the law, we need to see it as establishing it. What he means is this. The law played it’s role in revealing to us that we were sinners in God’s sight – that we could not do anything to save ourselves from the bondage of sin. It also created in us a desire in us to be righteous in God’s sight, though we could do nothing about it. It helped prepare us for this gift we worked so hard for, but could not earn or possess, so that we would now value this gift of God, for which we paid nothing to receive. In other words, if not for the law, we would not have known we were sinners, and if we hadn’t known we were sinners, we wouldn’t have sought freedom from sin, and we would not have recognised God’s righteousness when it was offered to us free of cost. So now, we can look back and thank God for the law that prepared us to receive the gift of God’s righteousness.

Though we were not saved by the law, now that we are saved, we are to obey God – something we could not do earlier, because we had not yet been made righteous. In other words, now that we’ve been made righteous, we need to live righteous. We don’t live right to become right, we live righteous because we’ve been made right.

Jesus too, clearly taught in the Sermon on the Mount that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

So we see how Paul has explained to us in great detail so far, that all humans are guilty before God, we could not do anything to save ourselves from the wrath of God, but God in His love and mercy, made a way for us to be made righteous, not by anything we did, but by what His Son Jesus did on our behalf, when He died on the cross and took the penalty of our sin. We have now been redeemed and made righteous in God’s sight. Having been made righteous, we are now called to live righteous.