Romans 3:21-31

21-26 27-31

21-26

21-22a

This new section starts off with wonderful news after systematically dismantling any human excuse or notion that there is anything we can do to redeem ourselves from chapter 1 verse 18 through 3:20, we as Gentiles cannot claim ignorance to knowing God or his laws because of God’s revealed presence and power all throughout creation and we show through our attempts at being somewhat moral that His laws are written on our hearts, nor can the Jew claim automatic justification through possession and knowledge of the law, this beautiful statement of “But now” signals that all hope is not lost and we do have a way. This way is apart from the law, but the law and the prophets, the Old Testament, were pointing to it. The way to be righteous before God is through faith in Jesus Christ, and when Paul adds for all who believe at the end this is not a redundant statement, as having faith in Jesus Christ would mean that they are believers, but the addition of “for all who believe” means that this saving faith is open for all who will believe.

22b-23

The last part of verse 22 and verse 23 are a very short but accurate summation of everything said before verse 21, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. In God’s eyes there is no distinction or partiality between the Jew and the Gentile as far as salvation is concerned because all of us have fallen short of God’s holiness through our sin, and all of us have sinned. This statement is here after delivering the good news to remind us just what we are being saved from or why we need to be saved.

24

Those who have faith in Jesus Christ are justified, deemed not guilty, are acceptable to God as a gift of grace by God, not because of anything we have done, as even having the faith in Christ is a work of the Holy Spirit, but the reason for the gift of grace is because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. All three persons of the Holy Trinity working perfectly as one. The Greek word translated redemption, also could be translated ransom, or liberation and would bring about imagery of the Greek slave market and to paying the required amount to obtain the prisoner’s or slave’s release. Which the first part of verse 25 says.

25a

“whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be recieved by faith” Jesus was our substitute in punishment, a propitiation by his blood, the Greek word hilastērion translated here propitiation can also be translated as mercy seat, as in where the blood of the sacrificial lamb is poured on the day of atonement. Christ was our lamb of atonement who’s blood is poured out on the cross, the full and complete atonement that the Old Testament sacrifices were pointing to. This is what we believe with faith, that Jesus is the Christ, the messiah, the son of God, and that his work, his sinless life and substitutionary punishment, the wrath of God on sin, His death, and His defeat over death in His resurrection, that is what we have faith in and all of it is a work of grace from God.

25b

The rest of verse 25 “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins” God’s righteousness is shown in the substitutionary work of Christ, because God is Holy and sin must be punished, all of the sins of the faithful in times past were were stored up, God’s divine forbearance of former sins, to be placed on Christ. God did not overlook or unjustly forgive all of the sins of the past faithful, if He did he would not be just or righteous.

26

The beginning of verse 26 is much like the last part of verse 25, the righteousness of God in punishing sin is shown in Christ’s substitution for the present time, the present time being perpetual so the present time in the first century and still present time today. In other words sins past, present, and future, Christ’s sacrificial atonement was once and for all never needing to be repeated. God then is just, he is correct and righteous in dealing with sin, and He is the justifier, the means of justice through Christ, for all who will have faith in Jesus, which is in itself a gift of grace from God.

27-31

27-28

Paul returns to the question and answer style, after clearly stating that righteousness can only come by faith in Jesus he poses the question about boasting. This includes any Jewish boasting about the Law of Moses or being God’s chosen people as well as any other kind of human boasting. The only thing we should boast in is God, it is all a work of God and for his Glory and not our own, our human self centered works are worthless in the eyes of a holy God and salvation is through faith and not from any works they or we do in attempting to keep the Law. Even Abraham’s faith or belief in the Lord was the reason given for his righteousness not the work of circumcision done of him and his household. Genesis 15:6 “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

29-30

In verse 29 he asks if God is only the God of the Jews, as many Jews believed that the Gentiles were somehow outside the domain of “their” God and the only way for any Gentile to have any access however small was through proselytizing them into Judaism. But Paul, after answering the question that yes God is the God of Gentiles also, reminds the reader that there is only one God and the one God of the Jews and the Gentiles will justify all through faith, the circumcised and the uncircumcised no distinction, no partiality all through faith in Jesus.

31

Now Paul asks if we, we referring to Christians and the Apostles proclaiming justification through faith, overthrow or nullify the law by this redeeming faith, by no means, or God forbid, we uphold the law, or establish the law in the KJV. Our faith in Christ does not replace the law because the law was never the meant to be the means of salvation, it was to show the perfect standards of God and to show that it was impossible for man to met those perfect standards, as verse 20 said “through the law comes knowledge of sin”. Christ’s work does not nullify the law but confirms it, Jesus said so himself in Matthew 5:17-18 ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Jesus’ work establishes the law by paying for the penalty of death which the law demands, by fulfilling its purpose of pointing to Jesus Christ, and providing the only way we can be right with the law and God which is though faith in Jesus. Paul expounds more on upholding the law through faith in chapters 6 and 7.