PF - Romans 3:21-31

Do you remember the main message that we saw from the first bit of Romans we did? What was the message?

Now, you might remember that the church in Rome had both Gentiles (non-Jews) and Jews. So, when Paul starts the letter by saying that the Gentiles are sinners who will be condemned by God, what might the Jews think?

“We knew it! THOSE guys are terrible. WE Jews - we have the OT and God’s Law! WE are not sinners - THEY are! WE won’t be condemned by God - THEY will!”

But look at chapter 3 verses 9-11. How does Paul shatter that idea?

Ok, so the message so far is: EVERYONE IN THE WORLD is a sinner who deserves to be condemned by God.

But do you think that’s true? What about people out there?

Now, this is not a very positive start to this letter, right? You can imagine maybe some of the Romans wanting to leave the church as this letter is being read to them.

But here’s what we need to understand: Paul telling them this is not him being mean. It’s him telling them the truth.

You know how sometimes people ask if we want to hear the bad news or the good news first? Paul starts with the bad news - we’re all sinners.

Because we can only understand and really treasure the good news after we accept the bad news first.

So, in this passage, we’re going to get the good news! And here’s the headline for us to remember: we are justified/saved by trusting in Jesus. We are justified/saved by trusting in Jesus.

But, like always, we need to check the text to see if that’s actually true, right? Let’s have a look.

READ 21-26 + 27-31

We saw in chapter 1 that God’s anger is revealed from heaven against our sin. Look at verse 21. What’s the thing about God that gets revealed now?

The righteousness of God. The righteousness which comes from Him. But what does righteousness mean?

Exactly. It’s basically being called just. As if we’ve never broken God’s law! But wait a minute… What is sinning?

So, if sinning is breaking God’s law, how does this righteousness from God help to save us?

Bingo! Having this righteousness from God would mean that God would see us as those who never broke His law!

The question, then, is: how do we get this righteousness? Have a look at 22. How do we get it?

And who needs this, verses 22 and 23?

That’s right. But, if we put our trust in Jesus, we receive this righteousness that comes from God! Which means, verse 24, we are JUSTIFIED!

Now, this is a really important word in the Bible. Who wants to try to explain what it means?

But I don’t know about you… I’m still confused! Let me draw what I mean…

NEED SALVATION - WE’RE JUSTIFIED/SAVED BY TRUSTING IN JESUS - WE RECEIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD

How exactly do we go from here to here? Why is it that trusting in Jesus means we are saved? Why do we receive righteousness from God by trusting in Jesus?

The answer is verse 25 and it’s all about Jesus. Paul says - verse 25 - God the Father gave Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement.

Again, another Bible word. Who knows what this one means? It’s a bit harder.

It means that our sins are atoned for. It means that God is no longer angry at us. Instead, we are reconciled to Him and we become His friends.

That’s what Jesus did at the cross - He made us friends with God by dying for us. But this only happened because Jesus took something that’s ours and gave us something that’s His.

Let me draw again…

GOD’S ANGER AT OUR SIN - GOD SENDS JESUS TO DIE FOR US - JESUS LIVES A PERFECT LIFE + WE DON’T LIVE A PERFECT LIFE - JESUS TAKES THE PUNISHMENT WE DESERVE + HE GIVES US HIS PERFECT RECORD

So, let me ask you this: does God punish our sins?

YES! The thing is: Jesus is the One who takes the punishment!

Why does this matter, do you think? The answer is in verse 26.

By doing this this way, God doesn’t have to stop being just. He doesn’t have to be like a corrupt judge who knows we’re guilty but decides to say we’re innocent just because He likes us. Or because we bribed Him with money or good works.

Guys, if God did that, He wouldn’t be just. He would be a pretty horrible God, actually. You can ask me why later afterwards if you want.

And so, because we receive Jesus’ perfect record of never breaking God’s law, we become righteous. We receive His righteousness - the righteousness that comes from God.

And what does this mean for us?

If means, first and foremost, you need to put your trust in Jesus. Because otherwise, you will NEVER save yourself. Look at what Paul says in verse 28.

NO ONE can be justified by works of the law. In other words, no one can do enough good works to save themselves. God doesn’t just require an overall positive score.

He says “You either obey me perfectly and never sin or you’re out.” That’s it. If you want to save yourself, you have to be perfect. I’m telling you - we can’t be perfect. Doing good works is not going to save us from God’s anger and from being condemned by Him.

So you have to trust Jesus. That’s the only way to be saved. What are you waiting for then?

But let’s say you follow Jesus already. Two things:

1 - don’t think you’re better than others! Paul says we can’t boast, we can’t be proud about being saved! Why? Because Jesus is the One who saved us, not us! Don’t be proud then.

2 - don’t go into “good works mode”. You might think “Sure, Jesus saves me. He gets me started. But I have to do good works to get to heaven, right?”

WRONG! Doing good works doesn’t get us to heaven. It proves that we trust in Jesus. It’s HIM that gets us to heaven! Keep trusting Him!

Guys, if there’s anything you’ll remember from today, I hope it’s this: if you trust in Jesus, you are saved! And good works won’t get you to heaven - Jesus will! So keep trusting Him.

Because, like I said at the start, we are saved by trusting in Jesus.

Let’s pray.