Romans 3:21-31

The Great Righteousness because of The Great Grace

It is in Chapter 3 that we must slow ourselves down. We cannot miss out on what Paul is setting forth doctrinally. In this last section of this chapter, we can find the power of God, the heart of God, and the unity of God’s efforts to be connected to humanity.

This section is so packed full, that is is similar to a QR code. It looks like a set of words or lines, but yet it takes us to a greater message and greater information.

…But now: as apposed to back then. (v. 21-22) It is made known apart from the Law- yet the law & Prophets point to its coming.

(Chapter 3)

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

The great need is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (v. 23)

(Chapter 3) 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith

The Great Grace presents humanity with a Great Gift.

It is the grace element that extends the gift - being justified in the eyes of God. It is a gift that is in the work of Christ, called redemption. (Redeemed, purchased back) from what Satan had held ransom since the days of the Garden.

Romans & Galatians (Christ as Our Righteousness) Salvation, then, is the result of two acts: (1) God’s gracious giving of Christ to die for our sins, by which it becomes possible for God to forgive and accept us; and (2) our coming to trust in that sacrifice, by which the gift of salvation becomes personally effective in our own lives. “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (3:25). This is the heart of the Good News, and it is of crucial importance to understand and grasp it well.

In this section, then, Paul uses the language of the law-court (“God … declares that we are righteous,” 3:24), the slave market (“through Christ Jesus … he freed us,” 3:24), and the altar (“God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin,” 3:25) to communicate the full significance of Christ’s death. Salvation brings us justification, redemption, and atonement—pardon, liberation, and forgiveness (Bruce 1985: 101–102), and it is all a free gift, by God’s sheer grace.

But i Still sin… justification does not mean forgiveness. Forgiveness is akin to pardon, which is the taking away or removing of a debt or penalty. Justification is a positive action that credits with a new status.

Romans (A. Justification (3:24)) First, justification means “declare or pronounce righteous,” not “make righteous.”

Romans (A. Justification (3:24)) the word is a forensic term from the courtroom which declares legal standing, not a moral term from the counseling room which declares ethical standing. It is obvious that every justified believer has not been completely morally transformed; they are still sinners. It is the suggested contradiction between God’s declaring righteous those who are still in some ways morally unrighteous that has caused erroneous understanding of justification. In the New Testament, moral transformation and development is an issue of sanctification, not justification. Justification declares one righteous in the sight of God because of a choice of the will of God in a moment. Sanctification through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit motivates the will of the believer to choose that which is consistent with the righteousness of God over time.

2nd. Pardon and Justification therefore are essentially distinct. The one is the remission of punishment, the other is a declaration that no ground for the infliction of punishment exists” (Stott, p. 110). Romans (A. Justification (3:24))

Third, the ground of justification is in God, not man. Therefore, the ground of righteousness must be found outside man, which means God. It is the merit of Christ which becomes the ground of any person’s justification. Paul uses the term “in Christ” to picture the believer as being identified with the righteousness of Christ. In spite of our sin, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). In spite of our sin, “if anyone is in Christ … the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). In spite of our sin, we have “been given fullness in Christ” (Col. 2:10). This is further reason for why Paul says that all boasting is excluded.

We can never earn it; we can only receive it with gratitude and wonder, simply taking God at his word and putting our trust in him.

Because salvation is a free gift and not something we can ever earn, there are two inferences that may be drawn. First, there is absolutely no room for human pride (3:27; 4:2)—the only boasting is in what the Lord has done (1 Cor 1:31). We receive salvation not because of what we have done but because of what Christ did for us, and our trust must be in that alone.

Salvation is always sola gratia, sola fide, soli Deo gloria (by grace alone, through faith alone, to God alone be the glory). There is no room here for the person who says, “I do the best I can, I try to live a decent life—what more can God expect of me?” Such self-reliance reflects both an inadequate view of sin and a failure in understanding the Good News of grace (cf. comments on 4:1–8).

Second, there is no preferential consideration given to those who keep the law; Gentiles are accepted on the same basis as Jews (3:28–30). Paul’s emphasis on this point would seem to be directed to Jewish Christians who may be critical of Gentile believers.

Mohrlang, Roger, Gerald L. Borchert. 2007. Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 14: Romans and Galatians. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.