Anatomy of the Gospel

Children’s Bible Page 1225

Introduction: Two ways to tell a story

One of the most important aspects of any relationship is communication.

And, do you realize that there are many different levels of communication?

Like, I’m always very interested in what my kids’ school days are like, so I am always so ready to ask them in the evening, how was your day at school?

And 99% of the time, the answer I get back is: good.

Okay, that’s the most basic level of communication.

But, I have to ask a follow up question like: tell me one specific thing that happened in your day at school today.

This can certainly go the other way too right?

Sometimes, you are looking for some very basic communication by saying to someone, how’s your day going?

And they launch into, well, glad you asked, my alarm didn’t go off on time, then I was in a hurry so I forgot to brush my teeth, then I left my phone at home, then…

Whoa whoa whoa, I was just kind of asking to be nice. I didn’t expect that level of communication.

But, you see, the more interested and passionate you are about something, the more detailed communication you want to have about it.

And I start that way because the book of Romans provides some of the most lengthy and detailed communication on the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ found anywhere in Scripture.

We, as a church, just spent the past six Romans sermons fleshing out in detail the truth that we are all sinners rightfully condemned before our Holy Creator God, which is the first major section of the book, all about what it means to be all wrong with God.

And now, today, verses 21-31 start the second major section where we pivot from how wrong we are with God, to what God has done to make us right with God.

New Testament scholars have called the verses we are looking at today: the most important verses in the book of Romans, the center and heart of the whole letter, the epicenter of the gospel, possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.

Martin Luther calls it the chief point and the center of the whole Bible.

And the reason is, after two full chapters of God convincing us of humanity’s greatest problem, which is sin under the judgment of God, our passage today spells out in detail the greatest solution the world has ever known, and that is what God has done to make sinners right with Him.

Remember, I said, the more interested and passionate you are about something, the more detailed communication you desire to have about that thing?

Well, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the very heart of Christianity, it is the one and only solution to our greatest problem, it is the only one and eternal hope for us all,

So, God through Paul is going to communicate it to us in detail.

Romans 3:21–26

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. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 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. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

1. Being Made Right With God Comes Through Faith In Jesus

The righteousness of God is really the key theme of the entire book.

Remember back to the summary verses of the entire book:

Romans 1:16–17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

You see, God is completely righteous, in all things he thinks, says, and does, He is right.

That is why He is right and righteous to judge and condemn sinners who have rebelled against his righteousness, which is all of us, and all humanity.

And, we have seen in the last two chapters, God gave us His perfect law to reveal to us that He is righteous, and we are not.

Because none of us could hope to perfectly keep the law.

So, under God’s perfect law, we are condemned to judgment and punishment due our sin.

But, the greatest news in the world is that there is one other way that God has displayed his righteousness to us other than the law.

The righteousness of God has also been displayed through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

It’s the greatest news because if being right with God could only be displayed through the law, we all fail and we have no hope.

But, if being right with God can also be displayed through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, then we all have a great hope if we would only trust and believe in Jesus.

So, does that mean we don’t need to worry anything about the law or the Old Testament? Well, no not at all.

Notice what verse 21 says, the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.

You see, the Old Testament isn’t just filled with a lot of rules of do’s and don’t’s.

The Old Testament is also filled with promises of one who would come to bless all nations and be the perfect sacrifice for sins.

It points and leads us to faith in Jesus.

You know, I used to think that the fact that faith was the door into salvation in Jesus sounded kind of lame honestly.

Faith? Like that’s it?

But, as I’ve grown, I see now, faith means a genuine trust, and what is more wonderful in a relationship than genuine love and trust.

What honors another more than to place your faith and trust in them?

But, how in the world can trusting Jesus possibly make us right with God?

Well, it’s because Jesus has done incredibly heroic loving and mind blowing sacrificial things in order to make anyone right with God who puts their faith and trust in Him.

We are now going to dive into what He has done.

2. Being Made Right With God Is A Gift Of God’s Grace

Look at the end of verse 22: For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

You see, sin was not just about breaking God’s law, it was also about breaking God’s heart.

We were made to bask in the glory of God as we encounter intimate relationship with Him, but sin destroyed all that.

And there’s no distinction: Jews and Gentiles, religious people and rebellious people, we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God.

But, for all who have faith in Jesus, are, verse 24, justified by his grace as a gift.

Justified means “declared righteous.”

God, who cannot lie, declares you right with God, by His grace, as a gift.

God’s grace is his undeserved favor and kindness toward you to offer you His righteousness as a gift.

We will sometimes talk about the Reformation of the 16th century, Martin Luther, John Calvin, you know, dead church history guys.

And the reason we talk about them is because, in their day, the church had moved away from the truth of Scripture and had added other things that a person must do in order to be made right with God.

Sure, Jesus is good, but you also need to perform this sacrament, and give this money to the church in order to pay off your sins, and on and on it went.

So, these Reformers stood up for the beautiful gospel truths of:

Scripture alone (God’s word is the only ultimate authority and God’s word teaches)

Christ alone (What Jesus Christ has done is alone necessary for salvation)

Grace alone (salvation is all of God’s grace with no human effort attached or added on)

Faith alone (placing trusting faith in Jesus is alone what saves)

To God’s glory alone (The fact that God has done everything necessary for salvation and we add nothing points all glory to God, which is the only rightful place for all glory to point).

Justification by faith alone, means when you trust in Jesus, God declares you right with God by His grace as a gift.

You cannot earn it, and you do not have to.

God has graciously earned it in your place through Jesus.

But, the question remains, what happened to God’s great justice, and judgment, and punishment toward sin?

It can feel as if the great weight of righteous judgment against sin just somehow up and flew away, and all that is left is a light hearted gift of God’s grace to declare you right before God.

But, no, that would never do.

Because God is perfectly righteous and perfectly right to judge and punish sin, so whatever God does to declare us righteous, it is no light hearted matter.

3. Being Made Right With God Is A Display Of God’s Justice

Look back to verse 24, how are we justified by His grace as a gift?

Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

The origin of the word redemption means the release of prisoners of war on payment of a price, or the freeing of slaves through payment.

The greatest Old Testament picture of redemption was the event of the Exodus.

God’s people were slaves in Egypt, until the night that God commanded his people to kill lambs and to paint the blood of the lambs on their doorposts, and the death angel came to Egypt and killed all the firstborn sons of Egypt, but spared all the Israelite sons who had the payment of the blood of the Lamb on their doorposts.

It was then that God led His people out of slavery in Egypt.

In an even greater way, we are all enslaved to sin under the righteous law of God.

So, Jesus came to redeem us from under the law, paying our sin debt, so that we could be freed from it.

This redemption is not only to redeem us out from under the law, but to now place us into God’s family, His church, under our great and gracious head, Jesus Christ.

But, what was the payment to be made? What was the judgment of the law we were under?

Look at verse 25:

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.

Personally, I have always found the word “propitiation” to be one of the hardest words in the Bible to say and to remember what it means,

But, I have learned to allow that very fact to remind me of what the word “propitiation” means because humanly speaking, it is the hardest thing God has ever done.

Remember, the whole section of Romans dealing with our humanity’s sinfulness began by saying

Romans 1:18

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

You see, the worst consequences of our sin is not just that we are separated from God, as if we don’t know him and He doesn’t know us,

No, the worst consequences of our sin is that we have set ourselves against God and in a hostile position with God,

For we have all sought to steal His glory and place it on ourselves and other created things.

Because of this, we rightly deserve the wrath of God to be poured out on us.

In Ephesians, Paul calls sinful humanity children of wrath.

You see, you cannot truly love without actively hating what seeks to destroy that which you love.

God is love, so He has perfect righteous wrath against sin, which seeks to destroy all humanity.

So, propitiation is, humanly speaking, the hardest thing God has ever done, because look at it again in verse 25:

God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.

The original language for put forward means that God fully purposed in his mind and heart to offer His son Jesus to be willingly placed in the hostile position of sinner, though He had never sinned.

When Jesus was brutally nailed and lifted up to hang on that rugged cross, the worst part of the torture was not the mocking of the crowd, nor the physical agony experienced, though it was excruciating.

The worst part of the torture of the cross was God the Father pouring the full weight of His wrath due our sin onto His son Jesus.

That’s propitiation. God the Father satisfying the full weight of His wrath toward sin by pouring it out on God the Son.

I warn you, do not be tempted to be horrified by God’s act, and do not label this an act of divine child abuse, as some have mistakingly done.

For remember, there was a joy that was set before Jesus that gave him the willingness to submit to experiencing the wrath of God poured out on Him.

And that joy was to save for eternity all who would receive Jesus and his great sacrifice by faith.

God’s son taking on the full weight of the Father’s wrath against sin was God’s plan and purpose from eternity past and God’s the son was fully on board and even elated with the plan, for they are always in lock step as the God of the universe.

A lot of times we use the word atonement, for Jesus was offered up as an atoning sacrifice for our sin.

A just payment of all that we owed.

For

Hebrews 9:22

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

No, it is not that the great weight of righteous judgment against sin just somehow up and flew away,

the gift of God’s grace to declare you right before God is not a light-hearted matter.

It was only made possible by God the Father turning His face away from God the Son as the full weight due our sin was poured out on his son.

As we triumphantly sing as a church body often: “Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on him was laid, here in the death of Christ, I live.”

Notice the second half of verse 25: This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Some may have charged Paul that the sacrifice of Jesus must not be the only way to have sins forgiven, because people of faith like David praised God in the Psalms for having his sins forgiven way before Jesus ever came.

Yet, once again, the righteousness of God displayed in the gospel is so perfect that Paul clarifies that God, in his great patience, in his slowness to anger, in his divine forbearance passed over former sins until they were properly atoned for in the sacrifice of Jesus.

Verse 26 brings the whole gospel picture together:

It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

You see, if God were not completely righteous and consistent in his righteousness, he would not be qualified to offer His perfect son as a sacrifice for sinners.

And so while this passage is argues for how the sinner can be justified, it is also concerned to display how God’s righteousness and justice is found to be perfectly displayed in this gospel.

For this is what we mean when we pray that we would see and comprehend at least a piece of the glory of God as we gaze at the work He has done in and through the cross.

For, in putting Jesus Christ, the Son of God forward to be a propitiation by his blood, God has made himself both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God is perfectly just to punish and pour his wrath upon every sin.

No sin of thought, word, deed, or motive throughout all of time will go unpunished.

The wrath of God will be fully poured out on all of it.

Completely just in his judgment.

Yet, He has also made himself the justifier of all who place faith in Jesus,

Because for their sins, His wrath was poured out on His son Jesus Christ as a propitiation, an atoning sacrifice, a perfectly satisfying offering.

Oh the greatness of God’s great justice to be both just and the justifier of those who place their faith in Jesus!

Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone!

And when we understand this, we see that all this is to the glory of God alone.

That is where Paul takes us next:

Romans 3:27–31

27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

4. Being Made Right With God Removes All Cause For Boasting

For what is there to boast in?

You didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything!

The only thing any one of us contributed to this whole thing is our sin and rebellion!

No, in the gospel, our only boast is Christ and his cross, for we have nothing to boast in!

Do you see how the gospel alone has the power to overcome a judgmental spirit?

The Jews were so tempted to look down upon the Gentiles because they did not grow up learning God’s law and they didn’t grow up going to synagogue all their lives.

But there is no boasting in any of that! Because none of it saves.

The only salvation is by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone!

So, what is there to boast in but Christ alone?

By what kind of law?

Well, if salvation was by a law of works, then sure, we could all pull out our good works list and compare it to everyone elses and measure who is righteous and who isn’t, but we’ve already established we all fail that text!

Yet, by the law of faith, we all have hope if we will place our faith and trust in Jesus!

But, that takes humility. That takes dying to self, and rejecting any and all kinds of self-righteousness and self-justification.

The great news of the gospel again in verse 28: for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the law.

If it was by the law, God would be God of the Jews only, for it was to the Jews that God gave the law.

But faith in Jesus? That’s for anyone!

Circumcised or uncircumcised, religious or irreligious, successful in this world or a failure, great reputation with others or despised by others, …

This passage shows us that one of the greatest hindrances to salvation is pride.

For salvation, one must only admit they cannot save themselves, and they need the sacrifice of Jesus.

5. Being Made Right With God Upholds God’s Law

Verse 31: Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

We who are made right with God through faith alone uphold the law,

Because we agree with the law that we are great sinners.

We agree that the standard of righteousness is perfection.

We agree that Jesus Christ is the only perfect one who offered himself in our place for our sins.

We uphold the law.

This law that gloriously displays the righteousness of God,

This law that curses us under our sin,

This law upon which the curses were laid on the one who never broke the law,

That we might uphold the law by being made right with God through faith in the one who perfectly fulfilled all the laws demands by becoming a curse for us.

This is the most important message in the world.

Remember, I said, the more interested and passionate you are about something, the more detailed communication you desire to have about that thing?

Well, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the very heart of Christianity, it is the one and only solution to our greatest problem, it is the only one and eternal hope for us all,

So, God through Paul is going to communicate it to us in detail.

If you are not a Christian, repent and believe.

If you are a Christian, remind yourself that this is the most important message to dwell on this week and every week.

Remind yourself that the most important thing happening this week is Jesus is growing those who are saved more into the image of his son and Jesus is sending us to share this gospel so that the lost can be saved.

(How to respond)

Pray.