The Righteousness of God Through Faith

MAY 31, 2023 STUDY NOTES ROMANS 3:21-31 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH INTRODUCTION In the previous verses Paul has presented a good picture of the depravity of lost, sinful man Paul has covered him from head to toe: The throat, the tongue, the lips (vs 13) The mouth (vs 14) The feet (vs 15) The eyes (vs 18) Paul has described the world we live in, all of which is capable of sin against God It is amazing that sinful man is so blind to the truths of God and the fact of sin against God But more amazing than that is blindness toward the love of God for sinners such as you and I, Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The saved can now be committed to the worship and obedient service unto God Paul now presents to us “The Righteousness of God through Faith” Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; “But now,” in contrast to the previous presented by Paul, which was the unrighteousness of man Paul had revealed that by the works of the Law no sinner will be made righteous in God’s sight Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin and the need of a Savior Lost, sinful man realizes he must call upon God to be justified, to be made righteous before God Throughout the ages religions have attempted to provide the way of a right relationship with God Americans join a denomination of their choice attempting to be made righteous before God Satan tells sinners that there are many ways to be right with God, just select the one you want Paul says that God has provided the only way for sinful man to be made right in His sight “Now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested” The way that sinners can be made right before God without keeping the law is “now manifested” “Manifested” means God Himself has made known the way of righteousness before God The only way sinners can be made righteous must be God’s way, the way that God has provided God’s way is “without the law,” it is apart from the Law, it is not through keeping the Law Through the Law God was teaching us what He wanted us to do, and we learned we couldn’t do it Righteousness before God cannot be accomplished through the religious attempts of man Righteousness before God is not accomplished by a life of good deeds or a good lifestyle Many think they stand right before God by comparing their good deeds with evil deeds of others But the truth is, Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. And the results is, Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. “But now,” God has “Good News” for all sinners who are under the bad news of the sin nature, Rom 3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; (The results of the fall of man is total depravity) “But now,” by God’s way, any sinner who has committed even many sins can be made righteous “But now” any sinner dead in his sins can be made alive in Christ, Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) What Paul said is ‘’being witnessed by the law and the prophets” Page 1 of 5 The types and shadows of the OT Levitical sacrificial system pointed to the need of the Messiah The law and the prophets pointed to the truth that God had a way for man to be made righteous Jesus said the Jews were blind to that truth, Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. The message through the OT scriptures was the Messiah must come and you must receive Him The message throughout scripture, OT and NT, is “The Righteousness of God Through Faith” Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: Verse 21 began, “But now the righteousness of God” Verse 22 begins, “Even the righteousness of God,” which is “by faith of Jesus Christ” Paul already established that no one stands righteous before God through personal righteousness, Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. “Which is by” means “through” faith in Jesus Christ, which is found throughout scripture: Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: Eph3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 2Ti 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. “All them that believe” refers to the ones who have put their faith in Jesus Christ Biblical belief is more than an intellectual assent to a stated fact Biblical belief unto salvation is a heart and soul commitment of your will to live for Jesus, Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The faith that saves is faith that believes that Jesus is the one who died in our place for our sins, 1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. Saving faith is the personal acceptance of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, Joh 1:12 Page 2 of 5 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: “For there is no difference,” means there is no distinction among sinners who call upon Jesus Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Without Christ there is not one righteous Jew or Gentile, Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Any sinner who calls upon Jesus from the heart can and will be saved, Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Jesus died for “all” sinners, and “all” are sinners, and cannot stand before God on their own merit Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; This verse describes the history of mankind since the “Fall of Man,” Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Which does not mean that all have sinned to the same degree or the sins of all are equal It only takes one sin to be a sinner, one sin and you are a sinner, and each and every sinner “comes short” “Come short” defines the sinner and his sin, describing the state of sinful, fallen man Written in the present tense stressing continuing action of which man can do nothing about it Left unto himself and by his own efforts he habitually falls short and keeps on falling short Not a single sinner by his own efforts is able to measure up to the “glory of God” Man was originally created in the image of God, Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Man was created to “the glory of God,” but because of sin man is no longer what God intended The image and character of God cannot be seen in a sinful nature In scripture the predominate meaning of “glory” is recognition or identification When God is present, glory is present, glory recognizes the presence of God When God is present glory identifies that which God is doing, God is always doing something His glory catches the eye, attracts our attention to “Who” is present and “What He” is doing Sin does not identify with God’s presence or His person, sin comes short of the glory of God Which Paul covered in Romans 1, the Person, Presence, and work of God can be seen in creation, Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Having recognized God as the Creator, knowing Who He was and what He had done Man should have celebrated their knowledge of God by praise and worship of God Man should have realized that he was created to bring honor and glory unto God Instead, sinful man’s thinking was senseless, useless, worthless, and without purpose, Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. “Their foolish heart was darkened,” it is impossible for a darkened heart to glorify God Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools As unwise fools sinful man began to act in foolish ways, making foolish changes through sin Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. “Changed” means to cause one thing to cease and another to take its place It means to exchange one thing for another and that is what fallen man did Page 3 of 5 Fallen man exchanged the Glory of the incorruptible God for idols They set up images in the place of the One and Only True God Foolish man had to attempt to change God because they refused to change themselves Which sinful man attempted to do by making idols and placing them above the only true God Man’s foolish made idols are nothing more than man’s foolish opinion of God Which can never present the truth of God, or bring praise, honor, and glory to the “True God” Man made idols are selfish and honor man instead of God, Joh 5:44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Throughout the ages sinful man has desired to glorify self, Joh 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. The two words translated praise are the same original word most often translated glory in the NT The same word is also found in John 5:44 translated “honor,” Joh 5:44 How can ye believe, which receive honour (glory) one of another, and seek not the honour (glory) that cometh from God only? By believing and receiving the gospel the saved obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2Th 2:14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to glory through the Gospel, through the Gospel is the obtaining of the glory “To the obtaining,” has the meaning of that which has been acquired or purchased The same word is found in, Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. “Purchased possession” is the same word translated “the obtaining” Believers have been acquired or purchased unto God by a price paid by Christ We are the unique people of God, 1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: The word “peculiar” is the same word translated “purchased possession” and “the obtaining” “Peculiar” means that we are the unique people of God, we are God’s real people Today’s definition of “peculiar” does not explain what Peter was saying Believers are not: odd--strange--abnormal--freakish--weird (some today fall into that category) The original meaning of “peculiar” was, particular, individual, unique, exclusive, private Peter is telling us that we are God’s unique and personal people Believers are the “private possession” of God, we are God’s personal people, purchased people God owns no other people like us, we are unique, we have a unique purpose Our purpose is to bring honor and glory unto God through our daily life Which is possible when we receive Christ into our life, the light comes on and begins to shine, 2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. When we receive Christ we will experience His glory, Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: The present glory manifested through our salvation is only a glimpse of that which is to come, Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Christ is going to return to the earth to redeem all of creation, to return it to its original glory There will be a new glorified state of all things, a new heaven, a new earth, a New Jerusalem Page 4 of 5 And we must have a “glorified body” to live in a glorified creation with a Glorified Lord, Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Our new body must be “like unto His glorious body” Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Our present daily life should bring honor and glory unto Christ, Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Page 5 of 5