23) Justified Before the Law
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
It is good to be back home both with our children and with all of you. If you would turn with me to the end of chapter three of the book of Romans.
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
As we have seen Paul is presenting the case and truth in support of the theme of this letter. That in Jesus there is good news. That the message that has been given to the apostles to take into the world, is the Gospel. For in the Gospel is the power of God for salvation. In the Gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. And that the Gospel is to those who are saved by faith. Turning back we read,
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
The Gospel is the simplest expression of the greatest act of love ever bestowed on a person. When we speak of the Gospel we speak of the righteousness of God, the sacrifice of the righteous son, and the continued work of the Holy Spirit applying that righteousness to us. Paul is working through a detailed explanation of this Gospel that he speaks of and the one we claim to have been saved by.
The gospel that reveals to anyone who has ears to hear, that they are in great danger. When our eyes are opened we find that in our flesh we stand condemned before God. That when we evaluate our lives we find that we have missed the mark, that we have transgressed and broken God’s laws, and when we put every effort into following them, we find that we are slaves to sin.
We find that all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God and that our sins have separated us from Him. The consequence is the wrath and anger of God, that without some external help we will die and remain separated and will receive the just punishment that we deserve.
This was the case that Paul made from verse 1:18 through 3:20. That fallen man stand condemned before God due to their own sin.
But starting in verse 3:21 we find the hope, work and power of the Gospel. That God did not leave people in this state of hopelessness and ungodliness. The fallen man needs to be taken from being a person of unrighteousness to one of righteousness. In order to be saved one must be justified before the great Judge.
This passage reveals how people are justified. In order to receive eternal life one must be clothed in the righteousness of God. Our filthy rags of immorality must be shed and new garments must be put on.
God gives his righteousness as a gift of grace through the work of Jesus, the redemption he accomplished as he was presented as the mercy seat, the place of appeasing God’s wrath, the place, of being made right with God, the place of mercy.
Paul is revealing the source of what justifies men. God’s righteousness, for without it a person is condemned. He has been making the case of where and how his righteousness is bestowed to men. Starting in Chapter 4 he will go into examples of the Jewish ancestors who received this righteousness.
But before he ends his argument he asks three questions that he knew were in the minds of the readers of the letter. The first is
Then what becomes of our boasting? The Jews we very proud of their place and privilege but they missed that is wasn’t about how special they were but how great God was. That in the end the Jews were to be justified in the same way as the Gentile. By faith.
The second and third question are what we are going to look at today.
God of All
God of All
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
One of the truths that the nation of Israel and the Jews continually struggled with was the truth of who God said he was and who were his people.
4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but me. I will strengthen you, though you do not know me,
10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at his wrath, and the nations cannot endure his fury.
15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: Lord God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God—you alone—of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
God would continually declare he was the only one true God. Never to create any other idol of false god.
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 3 Do not have other gods besides me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, 6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.
Israel would follow and worship false gods. They would prove that the one God wasn’t enough for them that they were always willing to turn to other religions and practices because God’s truth did not feed their wicked passions. So on one hand God isn’t enough and on the other they had come to the conclusion that only those that God was only the God of the Jews and that any one who would receive the covenant promises to Abraham would have to convert to Judaism and become a Jew.
God isn’t enough for me but you cannot have him unless you become like me.
Paul has used the truth of the scriptures against these arguments. If there is only one God and he saves people through a Law of faith instead of a law of works, then isn’t he the God of the Gentiles as well.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
If there is only one God? And if the only way that any man or woman, gentile or Jew can be justified is if this one God bestows the grace of his own righteousness and mercy of his own sacrifice, then it is he who will justify the circumcised and the uncircumcised, the Jew and the gentile. In other words, all mankind is justified by God through his righteousness.
Paul makes a unique distinction here that the circumcised or the Jews will be justified by and the uncircumcised or the Gentiles will be justified through faith. There are some that believe that this is nothing other than simple style and has no other meaning. There are others that see great significance to the difference between by faith and through faith.
The Greek for by faith literally means out of faith. This describe the origin or basis or the source of something. He says that the basis of the Jews justification is faith. As they were the recipients of the covenant with God, and they has come to believe that their justification came from the works of the Law and the symbol of the covenant, it is likely that Paul is reiterating that the basis of Abraham’s justification and all other Jews is based on faith in the promises of God that were given to them not on works.
For the Gentiles, through faith means, that faith is the means, instrument, or channel that the Gentiles are justified. Pointing out that they are being brought into the covenant promises through their faith.
These are likely subtle means of clarifying his teaching to his readers. But what is doesn’t mean is that the Jews and the Gentiles have different means of salvation or justification.
For it isn’t the one who carries the external symbols but one who has had a heart change by God.
28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.
2 Take note! I, Paul, am telling you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. 3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to do the entire law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we eagerly await through the Spirit, by faith, the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.
Paul will speak on this again in chapter 4.
11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also.
There is only one God and one one faith that justifies people.
The Law Upheld
The Law Upheld
31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
The question the Jews would ask is “If the works of the law is not the means of justification but a law of faith, then is the Law invalid? What was its purpose?” The Jews had been following the law for 1400 to 1500 hundred years since the 10 commandments were given on the mountain in the Mosaic Covenant. Though they constantly failed to follow them, this was the way in which they had interacted with the moral law as it was given to Moses. Generation after generation they would attempt follow these laws as they saw them. They were clear instructions on what God desired for them and their people along with the judicial and social laws that were given in the Levitical Law.
430 years before the Mosaic Covenant and the Moral Law was given. God had made his promises to Abraham. These promises made to Abraham’s offspring were unconditional. They depended on God’s work alone to fulfill them. The blessings of the covenant are received by those that are Abraham’s Children by and through faith.
7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons. 8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. 9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.
Two separate promises given to the Jews and over time they blended into a works based justification doctrine that saved no one. They had missed that the promises to Abraham were based on faith and the promises to Moses were based on works. Paul writes in more detail on this if we continue to read in Galatians 3.
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. 12 But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
The Mosaic Laws were given by God to reveal God’s moral standard for life and the consequence to those that did not follow them. They are a curse because what is found is that no matter how hard a person attempts to follow them, everyone falls short of them. The law did not justify men before God, it condemned them. This was the curse that Christ redeemed the Jews from by dying on the cross. But there was a purpose in the Mosaic Law.
14 The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith. 15 Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ.
The purpose of the law was to bring the blessing of Abraham to the Gentiles through faith and would receive the Spirit.
17 My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God and thus cancel the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise. 19 Why, then, was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one. 21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law.
Righteousness is the life lived in line with a law. So if the law had been a means of salvation then men could live without breaking it.
22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe. 23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus. 27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
The law imprisoned everything in sin’s power, it put everyone in bondage as it revealed the deep sinfulness of every person. Showing that the promise to Abraham cannot be received by human effort but by faith in Jesus. For he stated it this way in his ministry.
17 “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.
For Jesus would set forth a new covenant
6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
This is the new covenant promise and in it the laws of God are not abolished but written on the hearts of those that are justified before God.
6 But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. 8 But finding fault with his people, he says: See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I showed no concern for them, says the Lord, because they did not continue in my covenant. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them. 12 For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.
So if works don’t lead to justification then why did God give the Law. Is it nullified? Paul says absolutely not, the law is not invalid, nullified, over turned, worthless. He says that by faith the Law is upheld.
The law of God has never changed and can never change because the law is simple what God calls right. He has communicated what is right in many different ways. Directly as in his command to Adam to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. To Cain and able in what was a proper offering. To Abraham directly. Through the ten commandments with the Mosaic Law. Through the prophets with the words of the Lord. In the teaching of Jesus where he revealed that they were more than just external acts but the internal state of the heart including in the greatest commandments.
36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
And in the New Covenant where the Laws are written on the hearts and minds of men and women. These have all been recorded to reveal what is right before God, what is moral, and what is the standard that which God will judge people. The argument that Paul is making is that only by God giving righteousness are the requirements of the Law fulfilled. And God has established that the righteousness of God is only given through faith, thus making men right before the Law.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Today the question that is being asked today isn’t if the Law is nullified but is it necessary. Pastor’s have come to the conclusion that the old testament is too confusing, out dated, and unimportant in the life of a Christian. This is a great misstep in shepherding the flock of God. The greatest commandments depend on the law and the prophets. The new covenant is the law written on the hearts and minds of men. The new testament is not a replacement of the old testament but a completion of the plan and work of God.
When we claim to be saved by Jesus, we are claiming that we are justified before God. That we are righteous. Where to we find what God defines as righteous, in his word from beginning to end. In all of the inerrant scriptures.
Without faith there is no righteousness before God. But with faith we start to grow in lives that are more and more filled with actions and beliefs that God calls right.
We are to supplement our faith with what? With works of righteousness. Which he has given us the power to lie this way.
3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. 11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
The charge for us today is to live lives that follow the laws of God. To do what is right before his eyes. To be pleasing to him. This starts with faith and trust in the gospel. The good news of Jesus. If you have not confessed Jesus as Lord and savior. If you have not put you trust in his work on the cross as your saving grace then you cannot be found right before God until you do. Do not leave here today uncertain of your eternal payment. Do not leave here uncertain whether you will receive eternal life or eternal destruction.
If you have professed Christ as Lord. Are you supplementing your faith with goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Are you maturing in your faith or have you become cold and complacent? Do you neglect the law of God? Because if you do you, how do you respond to you saviors words.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.
Every day is a test as the world draws and temps us to the ways of the world. This Friday is one of those days where Christians will use Halloween as an excuse for wild living, debauchery, immorality, immodesty and many other acts of ungodliness. You must ask yourself and your family am what I am planning this weekend, does it honor God and the sacrifice of your savior. Or is it an excuse to sin.
This is the motive behind the service on Friday. If you would like to come and worship the name of Jesus? If you would like to gather in the community of the saints here, there is an open invitation to anyone to come on Friday.
Faith and the Law
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Blessing/Benediction
5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus,
