Romans Road Introduction
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Columbiana County Jail
Columbiana County Jail
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Welcome to our introduction to our new class. Welcome to Romans Road. This is God’s plan for salvation. For those of you who are not Christians, this is a good start for basic Christian beliefs.
Romans 3:23 is one of the best-known and often quoted verses in the whole Bible. This expresses an idea which is key to understanding how to be saved from God’s wrath and included in His family. The key to understanding this verse is the context.
Look at these verses all together.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This combined points out that all people, without distinction, are equally deserving of wrath for our sin. All people who are justified, without distinction, are justified through Jesus Christ.
This statement is short and to the point. Everyone sins. Everyone has sinned. Look at this verse.
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is no one who does not sin. Verse 10 is a quote from the Old Testament. Paul, who wrote this letter to the Roman Christians, often will quote the Old Testament to further his point.
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, There is none that doeth good. 2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
This describes the corruption of mankind. Paul’s point is clear. There is no escape from this label. Notice Paul does not offer any other category but “sinner” and everyone falls into this category. Just as you read earlier in verse 22, there is no “distinction”. The most moral human, relatively speaking, and the most perverse human are all under the same container: sinner.
What makes this worse is this. We know the difference between right and wrong and even the law given by God; and our knowledge doesn’t make us moral.
The Greek word for “come short” is hustereo and it is in the present tense. In reality, we keep coming short. In other words, even knowing the consequences of our sinfulness is not enough to keep us from sinning. Look at these verses.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because none of us are sinless, all of us come short of God’s glory. Why do you think that matters?
That matters, because we cannot be saved from God’s angry judgment against our sin except by being sinless. That is God’s standard, and we all come short of His glory because of our sin. God’s glory , or the glory of Himself and His kingdom, is what He shares with His children, those in His family. Our sin, though, keeps us from sharing in His glory.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul is summing up his point and basically the entire gospel with this verse. He has been comparing two types of lives. Those who arw without Christ are slaves to sin. Their work of sinfulness earns them a paycheck of death. In other words, they earn eternal death, eternal separation from God. No matter how good a person may think they are, their work can never be good enough.
Look at this verse in Isaiah.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
and ultimately we only have ourselves to blame for sinning against God.
Remember what we just went over
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
There is another way, however. Paul has described the possibility that we can become servants of righteousness. This is not something we can do on our own. Remember we all sin and come short of the glory of God. No, eternal life can only be given; it cannot be earned by human beings.
Look at this verse.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Paul describes eternal life as God’s free gift in Christ Jesus our Lord. When we trust in Christ, God gives us credit for Christ’s perfect , sinless life and accepts the payment of Christ’s death for our sin. The result, eternal life with Him, sharing in His glory, is given to us as a gift.
Paul is asking, “Which life do you want?”
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
This again is one of the most loved verses in the Bible, and the high point of our discussion. In the previous verses, Paul clearly showed that salvation is on the basis of faith, not works.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
That justification, a declaration of righteousness, brings us peace with God, instead of wrath. This is available only to those who have expressed saving faith, as exemplified by men like Abraham.
1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. 9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
Given that hope, suffering in the life of a Christian believer can be meaningful. We are safe to hope in God because He loves us. Paul’s point here is that we don’t have to take God’s word alone that He loves us. We can look at the evidence: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
What do you think that means when you read Christ died for us? It means He died in our place. Because of our sin, we deserved to suffer God’s angry judgment. We deserved death. Christ took that judgment for our sin on Himself on the cross. He suffered and died in our place. Paul insists that we should take that act as evidence of God’s great love for us, especially since God went first. Jesus died in our place, before we knew we would want Him to do that. He died for us before we had ever done anything to deserve that love. This is the point Paul made in the prior verse; it takes love to die willingly for someone else, even if they think they are a “good” person. But we, those who have been saved, were still sinners, and we were not going to improve. In truth, we had no hope of avoiding God’s judgment before Jesus took it for us.
God proved His love for us, That makes Him worth trusting.
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
These are the two great salvation related verses in the entire Bible. It is important to understand their context though.
Paul had just concluded quoting from Deuteronomy.
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
There, God says to Israel that His command for them is not hidden or far away; it is already in their mouths and hearts. Paul has written that this is true, as well, for the “word of faith” in Christ. This “word of faith” is a reference to the gospel : the message of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This message is near Israel’s mouths and hearts.
Now, Paul clarifies what this word of faith is, he explicitly describes what the Jewish people of his day should welcome into their mouths and hearts. He writes that instead of seeking to become righteous by following the law, they should confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord. He is the Messiah. Also, they should believe in their hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead. If they do those things, they will be saved, Paul writes.
We should not necessary take these two conditions as Paul’s final statement or how to become a Christian. He has been clear that faith in Christ, including Christ’s place on the cross as our substitute in the payment of our sin, is the key to being declared righteous by God. These two conditions , belief in Christ’s resurrection from the dead and a verbal confession of His place as Lord of all, will serve as evidence that our faith is in Christ. Anyone who trusts in Christ for his/her salvation is sure to agree that Christ is Lord and that He was raised from the dead . That person will be saved, Paul writes.
In verse 10, Paul restates the concept he taught in the previous verse. With the heart a person believes and is justified. This means they are declared righteous by God, they are cleared of all charges against them. Paul’s statement is clear. The faith in Christ that leads to salvation is personal and internal.
Look at these verses.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For they shall all know me, From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more.
The mouth then becomes the means by which someone expresses their faith in Christ. Only saved believers can truthfully say with their mouths what has happened in their hearts: they have placed their faith in Jesus.
Our last stop on Romans Road.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Paul is quoting from the prophet Joel in this verse, declaring that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, As the Lord hath said, And in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
In doing so, Paul accomplishes two things. First, he connects this truth to His statement in the previous verse that Christ , the Lord of all, gives His riches to all who call on Him, both Jews and Gentiles.
The idea of “calling on the name of the Lord”, in this context, means those who turn to Christ in faith seeking salvation. While not literally a description of a “sinner’s prayer’, Paul is referring to those who express the sentiment that a “sinner’s prayer” contains. This is the act of placing one’s faith in Christ. This is crucially different from those Jesus described in (honestly the scariest verses in the Bible.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
as those who use His name, but have no actual faith in Him.
Second, Paul makes a connection showing that Christ the Lord is in fact Israel’s Yahweh from the Old Testament. They are one in the same. All who call on Him in faith, both Jews and Gentiles, will be saved from God’s wrath against sin and will share in God’s glory forever.
